Everyone have a happy holiday? Great. We now enter mid-term season, a
round of endless projects, papers and cramming lessons in before the
semester ends. Don't get me started about the exam. ANYWAY, I'm glad
everyone is enjoying this. It's really fun for me to write. There's a few
chapters left, but I'm not saying anything else.
*
Chapter 16
"Rather stupid of him," laughed James. "The water in here will support us for a month or so before we need genuine food. It isn't as if nobody will come in here for month. Sprout will be back. And they'll realize we're gone."
Lily coughed. Although the room had been warm when they first when in, it was cold now. She shivered and wanted James close to her.
"I'm cold," she whined. He didn't move.
"Join the club." Lily wanted to start whistling to annoy him, but didn't.
"Wish I had a blanket," she said absently.
"What is your problem, Evans?" James snapped. Lily shrunk back a bit. "For the first time in our lives, you actually act human toward me for the whole year. We enjoy some time by the fire, sure. And we plot together to help the sick. And then you totally blow me off for months on end, and you come out of the blue needing my help. And now, you're whining."
"I'm sorry," Lily whispered. The weight of the whole year bore down on her shoulders and squeezed tears from her eyes like a cloth being wrung. "It's not my fault!"
"Again, whining!" he shouted. She could see his dark shape pacing. "Why isn't it your fault that you've poisoned over a hundred students that could die any day now and why isn't it your fault you've had me hanging on a string this whole year? Just how is it not your bloody fault, Evans?"
"IT WAS LOVE POTION!" she screamed. "It was that stupid love potion Dollops gave us at the beginning of the year."
"What?"
"Can't you hear me, numbskull? I said it was love potion. Malfoy was my partner and he did something to my potion so that I would fall in love with you, the last person in the room I would ever want to fall in love with. I may whine, but you were cruel. You tortured other students for your own amusement and hypocritically pointed at Snape and all Slytherins! I couldn't stand you."
"I never did anything to you."
"You may as well have done those things to me. And you asked me out in front of all those people! That was so embarrassing."
"You were embarrassed! I didn't want to come back this year after that rejection." Lily couldn't help but smile. She hoped James was smiling too.
They stayed quiet for a minute.
"Didn't you take the Hate Sap?" James asked.
"I did, but it never worked. Amorbane Wine is the only other cure."
"So Amorbane Wine isn't really the cure to dragon pox?"
"Not technically speaking. But if I had Amorbane Wine, I would contract the pox and heal from it. I wouldn't keep spreading it around to everybody. The same with Severus."
"Oh." Lily walked over to the water and coughed again. She put her finger in the water, and they immediately began to have a burning sensation.
"Ow!" she cried, clapping them to her chest.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I don't think we'll be able to drink the water."
"Well, that makes no difference," said James. "Sprout will be back long before we thirst to death." Lily wasn't so sure. She had read somewhere that you could die in three days if you didn't have water. If Sprout was gone on a trip like Dollops was, they might not make it.
James exploded the silence with a fit of coughing.
"Are you all right?" Lily asked after he was done.
"I think so," he said uneasily. Lily coughed twice. She sat down on the dirt and tucked her knees under her chin.
"The air," he said suddenly, and coughed again. "It's poisoned."
"Poisoned?" she asked. "That's silly." But when she breathed in again, it was like inhaling dirt along with air and she coughed hard to get it out.
"I think it's the plants," he said. "They're Dark herbs. I've never actually seen a dead lovage plant before. My mother gardens and is always complaining about the lovage overgrowing. In some books it's considered a weed rather than an herb. You can't kill it, wherever you set its uprooted parts it will manifest and grow. It won't burn either."
"It's grown dead from birth," said Lily, recalling the dead lovage from Snape's book. "Its roots are mutilated when planted and are never allowed to see sunlight. It's fed through water. Poisonous, burning water."
"It's going to kill us," said James. "It can tell we're here and it's releasing gases to suffocate us."
"How long do we have?"
"That's the thing. I've got no idea."
*
Chapter 16
"Rather stupid of him," laughed James. "The water in here will support us for a month or so before we need genuine food. It isn't as if nobody will come in here for month. Sprout will be back. And they'll realize we're gone."
Lily coughed. Although the room had been warm when they first when in, it was cold now. She shivered and wanted James close to her.
"I'm cold," she whined. He didn't move.
"Join the club." Lily wanted to start whistling to annoy him, but didn't.
"Wish I had a blanket," she said absently.
"What is your problem, Evans?" James snapped. Lily shrunk back a bit. "For the first time in our lives, you actually act human toward me for the whole year. We enjoy some time by the fire, sure. And we plot together to help the sick. And then you totally blow me off for months on end, and you come out of the blue needing my help. And now, you're whining."
"I'm sorry," Lily whispered. The weight of the whole year bore down on her shoulders and squeezed tears from her eyes like a cloth being wrung. "It's not my fault!"
"Again, whining!" he shouted. She could see his dark shape pacing. "Why isn't it your fault that you've poisoned over a hundred students that could die any day now and why isn't it your fault you've had me hanging on a string this whole year? Just how is it not your bloody fault, Evans?"
"IT WAS LOVE POTION!" she screamed. "It was that stupid love potion Dollops gave us at the beginning of the year."
"What?"
"Can't you hear me, numbskull? I said it was love potion. Malfoy was my partner and he did something to my potion so that I would fall in love with you, the last person in the room I would ever want to fall in love with. I may whine, but you were cruel. You tortured other students for your own amusement and hypocritically pointed at Snape and all Slytherins! I couldn't stand you."
"I never did anything to you."
"You may as well have done those things to me. And you asked me out in front of all those people! That was so embarrassing."
"You were embarrassed! I didn't want to come back this year after that rejection." Lily couldn't help but smile. She hoped James was smiling too.
They stayed quiet for a minute.
"Didn't you take the Hate Sap?" James asked.
"I did, but it never worked. Amorbane Wine is the only other cure."
"So Amorbane Wine isn't really the cure to dragon pox?"
"Not technically speaking. But if I had Amorbane Wine, I would contract the pox and heal from it. I wouldn't keep spreading it around to everybody. The same with Severus."
"Oh." Lily walked over to the water and coughed again. She put her finger in the water, and they immediately began to have a burning sensation.
"Ow!" she cried, clapping them to her chest.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I don't think we'll be able to drink the water."
"Well, that makes no difference," said James. "Sprout will be back long before we thirst to death." Lily wasn't so sure. She had read somewhere that you could die in three days if you didn't have water. If Sprout was gone on a trip like Dollops was, they might not make it.
James exploded the silence with a fit of coughing.
"Are you all right?" Lily asked after he was done.
"I think so," he said uneasily. Lily coughed twice. She sat down on the dirt and tucked her knees under her chin.
"The air," he said suddenly, and coughed again. "It's poisoned."
"Poisoned?" she asked. "That's silly." But when she breathed in again, it was like inhaling dirt along with air and she coughed hard to get it out.
"I think it's the plants," he said. "They're Dark herbs. I've never actually seen a dead lovage plant before. My mother gardens and is always complaining about the lovage overgrowing. In some books it's considered a weed rather than an herb. You can't kill it, wherever you set its uprooted parts it will manifest and grow. It won't burn either."
"It's grown dead from birth," said Lily, recalling the dead lovage from Snape's book. "Its roots are mutilated when planted and are never allowed to see sunlight. It's fed through water. Poisonous, burning water."
"It's going to kill us," said James. "It can tell we're here and it's releasing gases to suffocate us."
"How long do we have?"
"That's the thing. I've got no idea."