Chapter 4
"Little Surprises"
He hated his potions. They tasted like pickled toads. Or roaches. Or boogers.
One might wonder how someone would know what those things tasted like, but the patient in question was an eight-year-old boy and so that explained it.
Ginny patiently measured out the dose, vaguely realizing it was one from the new shipment from Winston Churchill. He'd been very demanding for information. He'd wanted to know what each child was suffering from, any allergies they had, and oddly enough, what their personalities were like. Ginny had informed him as best she could, and now it was time to see if the custom brewed potions would be as effective as the ones they used previously.
Danny's mother sat by his bed, ready to help Ginny force the potion down the little boy's throat if it was necessary. After four years of taking vile potions all the time and being confined to a hospital bed, Danny wasn't always very cooperative.
"Alright, Danny, here it is. Are you going to be a good boy and take it for me?"
He glared sullenly, but accepted the little cup filled with bright green potion.
"Why's it green instead of brown?" he asked, rubbing his button nose with the back of a small hand.
Ginny shrugged. "I don't know. We ordered it from someone different this time, so maybe he made some changes. You like green, though, don't you?"
"It is my favorite color. How did he know?"
Ginny wondered if that's why he'd wanted to know things about the children. Had he really taken into consideration things like their favorite colors?
"Well, go ahead. Bottoms up, little man," Ginny instructed crisply.
Danny took a hesitant sip, then smiled broadly.
"It tastes…like chocolate!" Danny happily guzzled the rest of it. When he burped a few seconds later, his mother started to reprimand him, only to stop abruptly in surprise.
Danny was burping rainbow colored bubbles. They floated into the air, popping like a miniature fireworks show. Danny laughed happily, his grin stretching from ear to ear as he watched the show. Amazed, Ginny left a burping Danny to visit her next patient.
She was a quiet little girl, also permanently bedridden. As a child she'd been hit with a very nasty hex by an abusive parent that kept her from developing properly. She was also almost constantly covered with a painful rash that they couldn't seem to cure. Her mother, an equally timid woman, worked horrible hours and didn't see her very often. She was there with her that morning, however, as it was a Saturday.
"Hi Elizabeth, how are you sweetie?" Ginny asked, noticing with a smile that Elizabeth's potion was a delicate pink, rather than the frothy red it usually was. Elizabeth didn't like the look of the previous potion. It reminded her of blood.
Elizabeth offered a weak smile as a greeting, but didn't say anything. Her mother shyly said hello, then went back to gently caressing her daughter's tiny hand. Ginny uncorked the large bottle (she had to drink one daily, because her body didn't process nutrients very well) and smiled wondrously at the wonderful aroma that suddenly filled the room.
"It…it smells like flowers!" Elizabeth said brightly. Ginny's eyes went to the much-loved copy of The Forbidden Garden sitting on Elizabeth's bed stand. She read it all the time, and Ginny had mentioned it to Winston.
"It does, doesn't it? This is a new potion we just got in that a nice man made just for you. Do you like it?"
"Very much," the little girl replied, taking a deep sniff of the potion when Ginny handed it to her. Ginny was about to put the bottle back on the cart when she noticed a small note stuck to the label.
"Oh, look, Winston sent you a note. It says, 'So that you may smell your garden while you read about it.' How fun! Winston really outdid himself with these!" Even Ginny was curious to see if the potion would have any other surprise effects. Hesitantly, Elizabeth took a small sip.
"What does it taste like, Elizabeth?" her mother asked. There was a smile on her weary face, and it made her look much younger. Elizabeth beamed, really smiling for the first time since Ginny had known her. Ginny wondered if the potion contained some sort of cheering element – usually the little girl was always melancholy.
"It tastes like lemonade! Like sweet, icy lemonade!"
It went like that for every child in the wing. The other healers began to go from room to room, almost as delighted by the effects of the potions as the children were. All day the wing was filled with all sorts of wonderful things. Some children were able to imitate animal noises exactly, some of them floated a few inches in the air every time they hiccupped. Smells that were associated with happy childhoods floated out of every other room, and not one boy or girl suffered from a foul tasting potion.
Ginny entered the dusty little apothecary with her arms filled. Harry looked up in surprise, wheeling around from behind the desk to see what she had brought. Mr. Pudgy immediately jumped onto the counter, rolling onto his back so that Ginny would rub his stomach.
It turned out that the children had enjoyed their potions so much, they had wanted to make gifts and cards for Winston. Harry looked at the sweet drawings and glittery crafts.
"Looks like Winston's made more friends – a whole hospital of them," Harry said with a smile. Ginny scooped up Mr. Pudgy, holding him against her chest and nuzzling his head with her forehead.
"How are you doing, Mr. Pudgy?" Harry mock pouted.
"I see how it is. You say hello to Mr. Pudgy before you say hello to me."
Ginny laughed, delighted that Harry was joking around again, and deposited Mr. Pudgy back onto the counter. She hugged Harry, ruffling his wild hair.
"Hi, Harry, how are you doing today?"
"Fine thanks, how are you?"
"Wonderful. It's been a delight at work all week," Ginny launched into a retelling of the miraculous potions. Harry smiled brightly, his heart warming to hear about how happy all the children were. Ginny picked up the new stock and left for work, but the happy news she'd brought seemed to brighten up the store a bit, and Harry found himself humming a jaunty little tune as he pulled the expired potions off the shelf.
Severus usually didn't venture into the Hogwarts staff room often. It was usually filled with members of the staff all under the ridiculous assumption that they could relax and chat amiably with each other. Severus had neither the time nor the inclination to flitter about the staff room like a social butterfly.
However, that's where the meeting was being held, so he bravely ventured inside. He was surprised to hear that the ladies already there were discussing him.
"Wouldn't the students just die of shock if Severus started flavoring his potions?"
"I'd probably get a great deal more traffic in the hospital wing if my potions did these sorts of things."
Upon seeing him, Minerva kindly offered him the article they were discussing. A slender black brow raised imperceptibly as he scanned the article. A potions master, no names were mentioned, was the new supplier of St. Mungo's children's ward. Apparently his potions did things to amuse the children taking them.
Severus brushed it off, saying it was a waste of time and ingredients and that potions were meant to do a job, not entertain, but in the privacy of his thoughts he thought back to when he was a boy. He'd visited a certain friend of his mother's…a man who had made him want to become a potions master himself. He remembered how the man's potions, when his mother had said they were being purchased for him, would taste like strawberries and would leave him feeling cheery and bright. Severus had a feeling the mysterious potions master was none other than Winston Churchill – the kindly old man that had tutored him and answered all his potion questions as a boy.
Though Severus didn't usually keep up correspondence with anyone, he realized he hadn't written Winston a letter since his mother died. He wondered if the man knew he'd attainted his mastery. It was time, Severus told himself, that he sent Winston an owl.
A/N: Short chapter, but it was mostly filler. Things will pick back up in the next chapter, now that I've figured out how Severus is going to be connected to Winston.
