Hermione helped me down the stairs once we both looked presentable in our school robes, though per usual Madame Pomfrey had literally worked her magic and I barely needed assistance in getting around now. I didn't feel any pain coming from my sprained wrist unless I moved it at certain angles, and the injuries I'd sustained during the third task were nearly healed. Apart from the knife wound along my arm, I looked as good as new (or so Hermione had assured me as we descended to the common room).
The Hogwarts matron had been long-suffering in having me as a patient, but apart from Hagrid she was one of the first people I'd met from the wizarding world that I'd felt completely safe with. To say I was timid upon first coming to Hogwarts would be an understatement, and had I not quickly befriended Ron and Hermione my first year likely would've been a nightmare, notwithstanding all we'd been through together since then.
Madame Pomfrey had inoculated me along with other muggle-borns who hadn't already received their vaccinations the day after the welcoming feast, and though her brusque and hurried manner had intimated me as I waited in line for my shots, she'd ensured my care and comfort throughout the ordeal. Upon lifting my arm sleeve, she paused and then proceeded to turn my arm to and fro as she grasped my elbow. Her eyes quickly flitted to mine and she then creased her forehead, her mouth pinching together at the corners just as the terrifying Professor McGonogall's had when she'd looked down during her welcoming speech to find Neville's toad quietly chirping on the ground beneath her. Pomfrey had then quickly administered my shots, but unlike the other students she instructed me to wait on one of the hospital beds lining either side of the hall before leaving.
I sat for what seemed like ages, although it was likely not more than half an hour in reality, before she finally came to me again, having dismissed all of her other patients. She sat down softly in the creaky, wooden chair placed beside me, taking a deep breath before she began.
"Now Rose, I'm a bit concerned about how small and skinny you are. I would not expect a girl your age to have arms as slim as yours are, and with your permission I would like to put you on a regime of nutritional potions that will help you to gain weight and make sure you're getting enough sustenance to grow."
I hadn't drawn any conclusions as to why Madame Pomfrey might've asked me to wait after administering my shots, but if I had this would not have been it. None of my other school teachers or matrons had ever mentioned anything of this sort to me before, though thinking on it now my figure was always obscured by Dudley's gargantuan shirts. Of course I knew I was underfed, especially in comparison to what my cousin was given, but to have an adult confirm this with barely having glanced at me was somewhat shocking. Nevertheless, I nodded in affirmation of her suggestion readily, which seemed to please her.
"Very well. Now, since your first class will be with Professor Snape who is the potions master here at Hogwarts, I'll give you a note to hand to him at the end of class and we'll make sure that we can get your weight up to where it needs to be, alright lovely?"
"Yes ma'am" I replied, slightly worried as to what these potions would be exactly, but eager to try them if it would mean filling out more of Dudley's horrible hand-me-downs. Madame Pomfrey had quickly written a note for him and sent me on my way with a prompt "Right, now off to class you go dear. Don't forget to hand Professor Snape the note, mind you."
I nodded before quickly making my way to the dungeons, where I'd been told potions classes took place. It grew dark and dreary in the extreme as I continued downward, seemingly being swallowed by the castle as I continued to descend, passing some walls that were sprouting dark green moss in the damp air. I took a seat next to Hermione when I arrived, who began chirping instantly about her excitement for potions, for which she thought she would show a "real aptitude" for, and did she think we might brew a potion on our first day? She spoke so quickly that I was unable to reply, and so I mostly ignored her and looked around the classroom, ignoring Malfoy when he sent a sneer in my direction.
The door behind us banged open and in swooped Professor Snape, who I recognized as the man who'd been strangely and intently staring at me during the welcoming feast. He began his lecture quite rapidly, and I hurried to copy down everything he said, nearly spilling my ink pot over once in my enthusiasm to catch his every word. It was only once Hermione had elbowed me had I raised my head from my parchment to see the entire class staring back at me as well as Snape's thunderous eyes.
"Miss Potter…" he seemed to hiss, "…our new celebrity."
Snape had proceeded to humiliate me in front of nearly all of my peers, questioning me about things only Hermione could've bothered to learn for our first class. I'd been so disheartened and scared of him after this that I found it nearly impossible to approach him with the note Madame Pomfrey had told me to deliver, but I didn't want to disappoint her as I clearly had Professor Snape.
As the class shuffled out to attend lunch in the Great Hall, I lingered behind as Snape began wiping down the chalkboard, leaving white streaks behind in his rush to tidy the room for his next class. I cleared my throat as he did so, and he whipped around to lay eyes on me, scowl already on his face.
"I'm sorry, Madame Pomfrey wanted me to give this to you, Professor."
"What message could Pomfrey have possibly wanted you to pass along, Potter" he spit out,
snatching the letter from my sweaty hands.
I could see his expression change rapidly as he read, the scowl steadily slipping from his face. I could tell when his eyes had stopped their back-and-forth reading motion as he reached the end of the note, but still he did not meet my eyes for some time after that. When he did, there was hardly a trace of malice in his voice as he asked me how many times a day I ate, what I was given to eat and when I was given it, etc. Though my voice shook and I couldn't meet his eyes as I answered, I was still truthful in my replies, and he seemed to be taking detailed notes of everything that I told him. When he had finished with all of his questions, he told me to go to the Great Hall for lunch and he would be in contact with Madame Pomfrey once the proper potion had been brewed for me. It took him only that night to finish concocting the right recipe, something which, as Madame Pomfrey told me soon after I'd arrived at the hospital wing for my first dose, usually took the potions master at least a week's worth of spare time to finish.
It was one of those rare times when I believed he might actually care for me somewhat, like the time I'd found out he'd been attempting a counter curse against Quirrell's attack on my broomstick or when he'd held the straw for me to drink from a few days ago in the hospital wing. Without fail after every summer break thus far Madame Pomfrey had brought me in for some "fattening up," especially before she would clear my physical check to play Quidditch, and without fail my potion had always been there, freshly brewed. And though I'd still never told anyone the extent of the Dursley's strictness with me, it seemed that at least Snape and Madame Pomfrey had some lurking suspicions about it.
It was Fred and George who brought me back to reality as Hermione and I reached the common room, as they came forward in unison to quickly lock me into a tight embrace.
"You don't need to go to this, you know" Fred whispered as they continued to squeeze me in a bear hug.
"We'll go for a walk with you instead if you like, or for a swim in the lake even" George added, softly patting my back with his one hand that wasn't being crushed between us.
"I won't be going anywhere except back to the hospital wing if you don't let me breathe soon" I replied, uncomfortable with their for-once serious demeanor and so trying to make a joke of their concern.
They both chuckled slightly and pulled back, Fred giving me the obligatory older-brother type of head noogie before I could move too far away from them.
Besides the Weasley's, Hermione, and myself, the common room was empty, for which I was grateful. Ron came forward to give me a quick squeeze on the shoulder before leading me out, and Hermione came up to walk on my other side.
I willed myself not to think of the memorial service to come, and instead proceeded to create a list of everything I would need to pack before leaving tomorrow morning in my head. I was still working on it, my mind running a million miles an hour as I refused to let it focus on anything else besides the packing list, when we arrived at the Great Hall.