Chapter Six
Back to Life
I was back in lessons the next day, finding myself being pointed at and muttered about in corridors, people moving away from me. I now felt what Harry Potter must have when everyone thought he was Slytherin's heir. Before lunch was potions. Professor Snape shot me a look that I wondered could be sympathy as I sat down. He soon had us creating a heating thermae potion singularly. I concentrated intently on cutting up my infervesco herbs correctly while Snape swooped round criticising the Gryffindors. He stopped by the Gryffindor on my right and criticised them thoroughly on their infervesco herbs.
"Look, this is how it is done!" Without warning Snape snatched the board from beneath my fingers, just as I was about to cut into an infervesco herb. Instead his finger received the sharp knife edge. I dropped the knife in surprise, exclaiming.
"Professor!" Snape put down the board, seeing he'd been cut. He sighed, inspecting the depth.
"I'm sorry Professor, it- it was an accident." Snape didn't answer. He swept from the dungeon. I shut my eyes to sort my thoughts. The rest of the class was watching me.
"What did you do?" Asked a voice from behind me. I sat down, took a breath and answered.
"I sliced his finger by accident. He didn't give any warning. It was an accident." Kerry put her hand on my shoulder.
"Are you okay Elixa, you've gone pale." I looked round.
"Fine." I looked back to the board. The infervesco herbs were there, accompanied by a drop of blood.
Snape returned soon after and we finished the potion. He approached me at the end.
"Miss Amethyst, I will extend the extra assignment to you, the lenimentus audio potion, on condition that you only observe it in the bottle, and don't sample the effects again." I looked up.
"Yes Professor. I'm sorry about that. How is your finger?" I asked the question timidly. Snape had his arms folded. He put the hand on his arm, with them still folded and stretched the particular finger out. It was a deep cut.
"I'm sorry Sir, it was an accident." He nodded.
"I expected it to be in the circumstances. You certainly attack your work with force." He looked down at his finger, and put it back with the rest. He produced the tiny bottle from his robes and placed it beside my equipment.
"Thank you Professor." I replied quietly.
It was late evening and after less than normal amounts of sleep in the hospital wing, I had drifted into a doze in one of the chairs set back from the fire in the dungeon common room. I my left hand was the necklace, entwined in my fingers. I awoke slightly when I saw Marcus Flint, captain on the Slytherin Quidditch team appear, accompanied by Snape. I didn't follow Quidditch that much now. I still turned up to Slytherin matches. Snape was standing oddly, his hand was tucked inside his robes in an awkward way. It was apparent that when he thought to gesture with it and resisted that it caused him discomfort. I thought back to the lesson. It was his fault really, if had just pointed to my herbs he would have been better off. I felt my eyes closing again.
"Sleeping better Miss Amethyst?" My eyes came open. I didn't know how long I'd fallen back into a doze, or how long Snape had been sitting in the chair opposite me which was in close range. I rubbed my eyes.
"Yes Sir." I replied, not attempting to make conversation in my sleepy state. Snape leant forwards towards me.
"What exactly have you done to that knife?" I frowned, wondering if Snape really had asked what I thought I heard, or if it was just tiredness.
"Done to it Professor?" I questioned.
"Charmed it, cursed it whatever." I shook my head.
"Nothing Sir." Snape looked annoyed with something, which I presumed, could be me. He drew his hand out from his robes, and for a moment I thought he planned to threaten me, but his hand was heavily bandaged. He unwrapped the bandage carefully, trying not to wince, but in the close situation it was clear he was in pain. I sat forwards too, my eyes open and feeling more alert. When he got down to his hand it was clear that the cut had reopened and the hand was turning a morbid purple. Without thinking about the implications to Snape, or what anyone, who could be watching, I took the hand in my own hands and examined it. Snape tried to flinch away, but I caught his thumb between two of my fingers and he gave in.
"Have you shown this to Madame Promfrey?" I asked, wondering if he'd dared. Snape nodded.
"She couldn't do much but treat the symptoms."
"Can you use the fingers?" I asked, trying to think the symptoms through in my own head.
"They've become stiff in the last hour." I feared he'd lose them, and it would be partly my fault, more if this was unusual for such an injury. I put my hand over the injury to feel the temperature while supporting the hand with the other. Snape's fingers moved. I lifted my hand. We both took a sharp intake of breath, Snape's hand was normal. The Professor took his hand back, flexing each finger in turn and turning his hand to compare it with the original undamaged one.
"One minute I've caused serious harm, and the next minute I've reversed it. What's happening?" I said quietly in disbelief.
"I think we will need to consult Professor Dumbledore." Snape replied, rising. We left the common room together.