Chapter 12 – Honeydukes Heaven
"Seems a bit wet, doesn't it? I feel like we've gone overboard."
"He fucking broke both his legs, Jacob. Isn't that enough for you?"
"Guys, come on! He's going to be absolutely love it."
"Are those some Sugared Butterfly Wings? And some Treacle fudge? Merlin, we've spoiled him!"
"Oh look, there are some Fudge Flies too! I haven't had some of them in ages!"
"Do you think we can grab some of those Chocolate Frogs without Sophie noticing?"
"Look, she's coming back right now!"
The nine members of the Slytherin Quidditch Team save Severus himself and Sophie Evergreen were huddled outside of Honeydukes, Hogsmeade's own much-loved wizarding sweets shop, and a renowned favourite amongst Hogwarts students. They were all assembled together in the cold late September wind on the front stone steps of the shop's entrance, waiting for Sophie to return with what she promised to be a final batch of sweets. Sophie had called all of the Slytherin Quidditch Team together in the Slytherin Common Room right after she had left the hospital ward after paying a visit to Severus, having immediately come up with the perfect way to cheer him up – buying every single sweet and chocolate from Honeydukes! It was going to be a sickly present for sure, but when she had told the team about her idea, they all seemed in favour, if also a little jealous. Everyone loved the sweets from Honeydukes.
"Do you think I could ask her to get some extra Fudge Flies for me?" whispered Adrian Wood, one of the Slytherin Quidditch Team substitute players and the youngest member of the team, being only in fourth year, and one of the youngest students in his year too. He had only just turned thirteen two weeks ago, right at the end of August, and was still very much treated as a childish twelve-year-old, despite his Quidditch talent.
Molly Andrews, a fifth-year Slytherin girl who played as one of the three Chasers on the Slytherin Quidditch Team rolled her eyes at Adrian, although she, like the rest of the team, considered him as something of an annoying but nonetheless endearing younger brother. Before she could accost him for being a greedy little boy, Sophie emerged from Honeyduke's teal green door, holding a huge bag no doubt packed with yummy goodies.
"Merlin, Sophie, how much did you get for him?" Ella Bakersfield asked. One of Slytherin's two Beaters, Ella was in the same year as Severus, and even shared an Arithmancy class with him. She'd been the one who had informed Severus of Slughorn's Quidditch celebration party, the one he'd dreaded so much but actually ended up enjoying.
"She did say she was going to buy up the whole bloody shop!" Jacob Harper remarked, even though he was actually surprised that she genuinely seemed to have done so.
Jacob Harper was, like Molly Andrews, a Slytherin Quidditch Chaser, with the third Chaser being Mitchell Clearwater himself, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain. And Jacob Harper, like Mitchell, was in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, making both of them the two oldest members of the Slytherin Quidditch Team. Of course, they were not the only two members of the team who were in seventh year – in fact, the majority of the entire Slytherin Quidditch Team (including substitutes) were in seventh year, including Sophie Evergreen, Rohan Sandhu (the second Beater, playing alongside Ella Bakersfield) and the two substitute players Priya Johar and George Walters. The only other substitute apart from Johar, Walters, and Adrian Wood was Margaret Gates, a fifth-year girl with a talent for saving goals. But she was not as good as Sophie Evergreen, and hence was a Keeper substitute.
"I just wanted to make sure we have everything," Sophie replied, pleased with the sight of the almost overflowing mahogany trunk, teeming with sweet delights from Honeydukes. She added the five extra purchases she had made from Honeydukes, and in poured five Jelly Slugs, three Acid Pops, four Liquorice Wands, six Pumpkin Pasties and five Fudge Flies.
"Fudge Flies!" Adrian exclaimed, seeing his very favourite sweet fall into the trunk beneath his eyes. "Please, Sophie, can I have one?"
"Adrian, come on!" Ella sighed at him. "Did you happen to break your legs too?"
"No Ella, don't worry." Sophie replied, grabbing one of the Fudge Flies and handing it over to a very grateful-looking Adrian. "Maybe I have gone a bit overboard. I just want to make sure it's perfect!"
"Thanks Sophie!" Adrian exclaimed, as he ripped open the packet and shoved the entire chocolate covered sweet in his mouth.
"Adrian!" Ella gasped. "You absolute pig!"
"Ah, get over yourself Bakersfield." George Walters told the motherly fifth-year. "As if you haven't shoved a whole chocolate in your mouth and eaten all in one go before."
"Never." Ella replied, her cheeks slightly growing pink. "It's called manners."
"Oh shut up, you two." Mitchell Clearwater said, tired of the constant rowing of his team members, banterly or not. "How are we going to get this all the way back to Hogwarts, then?"
"Using the Levitation Charm, obviously." Rohan Sandhu replied.
"Go on then, if you're such an expert at it." Mitchell replied huffily.
"Wait, are we just going to fly it over as we're walking back to Hogwarts?" Margaret Gates asked, speaking for the first time since they'd come out of Honeydukes. She seemed to be intensely wondering how much money she would have to ask from her parents in order to buy up the entire Honeydukes' supply of Pixie Puffs. In fact, she was also wondering how much money Sophie had actually spent altogether on the sweets – how much money did her parents give her? Clearly a hell of a lot.
"Obviously." Rohan Sandhu replied again, using his favourite adverb.
"Then get to it!" Mitchell ordered him, having become absolutely sick of his Slytherin Quidditch teammate. "We've already spent two hours in Honeydukes, and personally, as much as I love sugar, I'd rather get back to Hogwarts in time for dinner, wouldn't you?"
All of the Slytherin Quidditch members appeared to agree, and they drudgingly began to make the fairly long walk back from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. It was nearing five o'clock, and the sky had already begun to grow dark. Plus, the cold chill in the air had rapidly grown even frostier, much to the frustration of an already tired Slytherin Quidditch Captain. This was not his favourite way to spend a Sunday evening. Sophie, on the other hand, was utterly content. She was very pleased with her shopping mission, and was certain that Severus was going to love it. The look on his face when they would all arrive into the ward, with a huge trunk of Honeydukes goodies just for him! (Of course, the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch Team was banking on Severus's generosity, hoping he'd let them take a few bites in the some of that sugary deliciousness.)
Rohan Sandhu stood a few metres away from the now closed maghogany trunked, and carefully spoke aloud, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The airborne mahogany trunked then followed the tired Slytherin Quidditch Team as they slowly made their way back to Hogwarts Castle.
As soon as they arrived back to Hogwarts Castle, Sophie immediately made for the Hospital Ward, eager to let Severus know of their plans for tonight. As the others headed straight for the Great Hall, Sophie quickly made her way up the spiral steps to the ward, and walked through the lined hospital beds to reach Severus.
"Hey Sophie!" Severus greeted her warmly, once he'd noticed that she'd entered the room. "How's everything going? Wait - aren't you supposed to be going down for dinner now?" He turned to look at the clock, whose hands clearly showed 5.30pm.
"Yep," Sophie agreed, "but I just wanted to let you know that we have a surprise for you. Tonight. The whole Slytherin Quidditch Team is coming to pay you a visit here in the ward."
Severus's eyebrows rose in surprise. "All eleven of us cramped around this bed? I doubt Matron will be happy about that!" He joked.
Sophie faltered for a second. Shit! I completely forgot about Matron! "I'm sorry, Sev, I didn't realise…"
"No, Sophie, I was joking!" Severus laughed. "She barely even bothers to check who comes in and out of here, as you can probably tell. I can't wait to have you all in here! It'll be nice to see Mitchell again too."
"And you'll get to properly hang out with Ella Bakersfield and Molly Andrews and Jacob Harper and everyone else. I know you met them briefly at Slughorn's dinners and in training, but you'll see the nicer side of them once they've had fed with a good dinner! I swear we're all bears, us Slytherins!" Sophie remarked. "Especially that Adrian Woods, though I guess he's young enough to get away with it. And even then, he's not that young!"
"Sounds awesome!" Severus said cheerfully. He was excited to be around all of his Slytherin Quidditch teammates – although he was used to being a solitary creature studying and reading books, his time stuck in the ward by himself (Matron didn't really offer good company, to tell the truth) had made him desperate for some human company. And a bunch of energetic Slytherin Quidditch players would definitely do the trick!
"We'll see you tonight then. Around six thirty." Sophie told him as she picked up her satchel and grabbed her Hogwarts robe off the chair.
"See you then!" Severus replied, glancing at the clock which read 5.32pm, and desperately waiting until nightfall.
That evening Lily Evans made her way to the Great Hall, wishing she could be eating dinner with Severus rather than having to sit with her Gryffindor friends, most of whom liked sitting as near as possible to James Potter. It meant eating without Severus an impossible task.
"Hey Evans!" James Potter called out, giving her a whistle. "Fancy sitting next to me, eh?" He pointed near the empty spot he'd left besides him on the bench, having evidently asked Petter Pettigrew to give him some space.
"You wish." Lily replied, before walking to the other end of the long, oblong dinner table, and sitting down by herself. All she wanted to do was scarf dinner down as quickly as possible, so she could pay Severus a surprise visit at nine o'clock, an hour before the 10pm curfew she was not intent on following, not wanting to risk another detention from Professor McGonagall. Especially not one she would have to share with James Potter. She almost shuddered at the memory of having to scrub down the dirty floors of the Great Hall kitchens with him, without the aid of magic. She had no idea how she had gotten through it.
But Lily then turned to her thoughts on that afternoon. She had spent every moment since her last class of the day working on a concoction in the Potions' lab, having found Professor Slughorn in a good mood and apologised for her absence in his class earlier that week. She had given him her now finished essay, and indulged him for over half an hour, over a range of topics, namely whatever popped up in Slughorn's head. After that, when Lily told him that she was planning on making something for Severus, Horace Slughorn had happily permitted her to use one of his cauldrons (provided she washed up after, of course) and thus she had spent the entire afternoon there, carefully creating her own twist on what she knew was Severus's all-time favourite sweet - Liquorice Wands. She had planned on using the melted chocolate of some Chocolate Frogs, combined with some heated Treacle Fudge, to infuse inside the Liquorice Wand to make a deliciously tasteful Chocolate Fudge Liquorice Wand. After three hours, she had achieved her goal, and she placed five fresh 'Evan's Choco-Fudge Liquorice Wands' into a small metal box, ready to surprise Severus at 9pm, just before he would go to bed. For now, however, she would have to chomp down on the steaming hot fish pie on her plate, trying to avoid the provocative shouts coming from the other end of the table.
"Where's the bloody trunk?!" George Walters groaned in frustration, as he walked down into the Slytherin Common Room from his dormitory several floors above. He had been met with the sight of five of his Slytherin Quidditch teammates – Adrian, Priya, Margaret, Molly and Jacob – all standing in the middle of the room looking as helpless as a group of drowning baby Mountain Trolls.
"We don't know. We can't find Sophie or the others either." Priya admitted.
George Walters signed in exasperation. "Priya, Jacob – did you even bother to look? I don't expect much from Molly or Margaret or Adrian, but you guys are literally adults now. You can't be messing up on stuff as simple as this."
"Hey, I'm only turning 18 in March!" Priya Johar complained.
"And me in June!" Jacob added.
George Walters merely rolled his eyes. What was even the point of trying to reason with them? He suddenly understood why Mitchell Clearwater was always so angry with them. They were masterfully incompetent, he realised.
"Have you checked the Great Hall?" he asked, not expecting much from his five Quidditch peers.
"We've literally just left from there." Adrian spoke up, deciding it wasn't worth defending his name in the face of George's earlier attack. "They're definitely not there."
"Well maybe they've already started heading for the ward?" George said, which seemed to him to be the most obvious conclusion.
"Maybe." Molly Andrews agreed. "It was already six thirty-seven by the time we got back from dinner."
"What?!" George almost shouted, turning around to read the great huge clock that hung above the chimney furnace in the Slytherin Common Room. It read six-forty-two PM.
"Guess you were super late in coming down here too." Jacob smirked. "Really, Walters, you're literally an adult now. You can't be getting it wrong with simple stuff like this."
"Piss off." George shot back at him, annoyed that his insult to Jacob had fired back on him. "Let's go to the ward."
When the group of six Slytherins finally reached the front glass entrance to the Hospital Ward, they found an irate-looking Sophie and a bored-looking Rohan, Mitchell and Ella.
"Where on earth have you guys been?" She shrieked quietly. "You're over twenty minutes late!"
"We're sorry, Soph." Jacob replied. "But we had a bit of trouble tracking you guys down."
"She literally told all of us that we're surprising Snape in the hospital ward. Where else would we be?" Ella sighed.
"Maybe if you'd waited for us in the Slytherin Common Room so we could all head down together, we wouldn't have had this problem." George Walters said coolly.
"Oh, it doesn't matter!" Sophie puffed, finally grabbing the mahogany trunk in her hands and getting ready to open the ward door and surprise Severus. But as she abruptly pulled up the trunk into her arms, the lift of the trunk swung open slightly and, to her horror, she realised that almost one third of the previously full trunk was gone, replaced by a hectic mess of empty sweet packets.
Sophie calmly put the trunk back down and turned to face her Slytherin Quidditch teammates. "Are you guys trying to get yourself killed? By me? Because I'm not joking, whoever just ate a third of the sweets I bought is going to murdered by me right now."
There was a few seconds' silence before Ella Bakersfield turned to Adrian and looked him his fiercely in the eyes. "Adrian," she began, "you did not just do what I think you've done."
"It wasn't me!" Adrian protested. "I swear it wasn't me!"
"Oh who else would it be?" Ella shot back dismissively. "I know it was you because all of the wrappers are still left in there. Eating a third of someone else's chocolate and sweets is bad enough, but leaving in the dirty wrappers for them to find and throw away is just complete savagery. What's wrong with you, Adrian?"
"It wasn't just me!" Adrian shouted loudly, but he quickly shut up when Sophie looked at him with dagger eyes.
"Forget it!" Sophie sighed, apparently accepting that things would always go wrong even if she spent forever planning them. Two thirds of a mahogany trunk was better than nothing. It would have to do. She quickly scooped up the myriads of empty wrappers laying on the surface on the trunk's insides and shoved them in one of the bins that lined the corridor that led up to the Hospital Ward.
"Come on, let's surprise him." She said, having quickly recollected herself. It was the least Severus deserved.
Had they forgotten? Had he misheard Sophie's words? Severus sat in his ward bed utterly confused as his bedside alarm clock read six forty, then six fifty, and then six fifty-five. It was extremely frustrating having to sit in the bed and wait, not being able to just go and walk to the Slytherin Common Room and ask Sophie what was going on. He could always ask Matron to help him to the wheelchair by his bedside, but he doubted that she was going to let him out of the ward past seven o'clock, and besides, she was rarely eager to help him into the wheelchair during daylight hours anyway.
I must have been mistaken, Severus decided. He looked over once more at his bedside table which was home both to his alarm clock and a white paper plate with the remnants of the dinner Matron had given him – a highly questionable fish pie that was unpleasantly cold. He hadn't eaten much of it, and there it stood on the bedside table, making Severus queasy just looking at it. But he couldn't walk to the end of the ward to put it in the bin; for that, he would need Matron's help. And he wasn't in the mood for ringing the bell above his bed to call for her, since she seemed to be happiest locked away in her office at the far end of the Hospital Ward, and Severus had no intention of disturbing her unless he had an emergency. And a smelly old fish pie certainly did not make the cut.
It was as Severus was observing the remnants of his dinner that the ten members of the Slytherin Quidditch Team burst into the ward, accompanied by a cheerful "Surprise!"
At first, Severus was completely confused. Having accepted that his brain had made up the 6.30pm plans, he was now puzzled as to why he could see the entire Slytherin Quidditch Team all huddled around his ward bed.
"We're so sorry we're late!" Sophie apologised, bringing the mahogany trunk to rest on the edge of the ward bed. "But we have a gift for you as a 'Get Well Soon Present'!"
"You're going to love it mate!" Mitchell Clearwater winked at Severus.
Sophie opened up the huge trunk to show Severus the majestical content of its insides – dozens and dozens of different chocolates and sweets from Honeydukes, all piled on top of each to make for an irresistible blend of different mouth-watering sugary flavours.
"Merlin!" Severus exclaimed. "Are all of those from Honeydukes? That's—you guys are—that's bloody brilliant! Thank you so much!"
Severus was truly overjoyed at seeing the huge collection of different staple items from Honeydukes, and he could feel his stomach growling hungrily, especially since he had barely eaten dinner.
"And it's all yours!" Ella Bakersfield stressed, with a disapproving eye towards Adrian who only looked down at the floor in response.
"What do you mean?" Severus protested. "I can't possibly eat all of that on my own! You guys are going to have to help me!"
"That would be a pleasure!" Mitchell Clearwater grinned, as he threw himself on the bed next to Severus and made himself comfortable. "Come on Sophie. Pass me an Acid Pop will you?"
'Hey, Severus gets to choose first since it's for him." Ella corrected him, placing the huge mahogany trunk on the chair next to Severus's bed so that everyone could access it and take a handful of sweets.
Severus picked out his favourite sweet – the Liquorice Wands – and happily munched on them, savouring their taste. Mitchell, meanwhile, was contentedly chewing on Acid Pops, and even Rohan Sandhu had treated himself to a few Pumpkin Pasties.
Ella Bakersfield had decided to ignore her usual rule not to snack after dinner (a rule her mother she insisted she keep after childhood for the sake of her health and teeth) and cheerfully chomped on some Treacle fudge, her personal favourite.
Adrian Wood was stuffing as many Cauldron Cakes in his mouth as he thought he could get away with, and Jacob Harper was enjoying some simple Chocoballs. Priya, Margaret and Molly were all sharing some No-Melt Ice cream, the best item from Honeydukes in their opinion. And George Walters was indulging himself in his much-loved Spindle's Lick'O'Rish Spiders.
Only Sophie Evergreen was sat on one of the beds adjacent to Severus's, eating none of Honeyduke's sugary delights. She was watching Severus make his way through the many Liquorice Wands she had bought him, delighted that he had liked the surprise.
"You guys are awesome!" Severus sighed happily. "I haven't had a Liquorice Wand since before we did our OWL exams!"
"You know what would be even better than stuffing our faces with Honeydukes?" Mitchell Clearwater suggested. "Getting shitfaced at the same time."
"Mitchell." Ella sighed. "You know that you're not supposed to drink with broken bones. It slows down your recovery rate."
"Well, we definitely don't want you to be stuck here for ever." Mitchell Clearwater agreed. "But that doesn't mean we can't have some."
Sophie rolled her eyes at his suggestion - as if they were all going to go on a drinking spree whilst poor Severus was stuck in this hospital bed.
"We're in the hospital ward though, Mitchel." Jacob Harper said. "If Matron comes out of her office and finds us, we're officially screwed."
"Plus Adrian is underage." Margaret noted, seemingly not realising that the same was the case for her.
"Well how about us oldies have a few shots then?" George Walters suggested, seeming to have little concern for his younger Slytherin teammates.
"You guys are ridiculous." Sophie dismissed them. "If you want to have a party, we can do that when Severus gets better. For now, how about we talk about that mid-air backwards clockwise twist he did with half a broom?"
"I still can't get over that, mate." Jacob complimented Severus. "Literally unheard of. I mean, we're all thinking, where did you learn that?"
"I didn't even realise that's what I was doing. The backwards clockwise twist. I guess my body was literally trying to save itself." Severus joked. "Not that it exactly succeeded."
"I wish I could learn how to do that!" Adrian said admiringly. "I wrote a whole letter about it to my parents!"
"Ah, that reminds me!" Mitchell Clearwater said loudly, all of a sudden. He turned to face Severus. "You're going to receive a letter soon. Tomorrow morning, I think."
"A letter?" Severus asked in surprise. That was unusual - he never received letters. It was not like his parents were ever going to send him any.
"Yeah, from Lucius Malfoy." Clearwater replied.
"Lucius Malfoy?" Severus breathed. "I haven't heard from him since forever!"
Lucius Malfoy had been in his seventh and final year when Severus had started Hogwarts as a timid ten-year-old, and had taken a strong liking to the boy, acting as some sort of guiding and fatherly figure in his life. Lucius Malfoy had been a Prefect, and was a much respected (and feared) figure of authority back in 1971, when Severus was in first year. The two Slytherins had been good friends, and Severus had very much missed Lucius's company in his second year, when Lucius Malfoy had graduated from Hogwarts. He had sent the occasional letter to Severus over the years, inquiring how he was doing and how he was getting on in his OWLs, but Severus had not heard from the twenty-three year old since last November. That was why, when he heard from Mitchell that he'd been sent a new letter, he was overjoyed to hear that it was from Lucius Malfoy.
"My parents actually sent me a letter by post a few days ago." Mitchell explained. "They're quite good friends with the Malfoy's, and the whole Malfoy dinner was over having dinner at my parent's place. Apparently they were talking lots about you and your Quidditch accident - I guess that's my fault for telling them - but Lucius said he wanted to send a letter to see how you were doing. My parents said it would probably arrive soon after their own letter to me."
"Lucius knows I've broken my legs?" Severus asked. "He knows I play Quidditch?"
"He knows everything - I pretty much told my parents everything that had happened after the match we won against Hufflepuff - my parents are quite nosy and want always know how our Slytherin Quidditch Team is doing - and he was staying at their house when my post arrived. My parents said they were all very impressed with your skills, especially because of your part-Muggle background..."
"Ugh, Mitchell, don't start with that." Sophie urged him, not wanting to get into yet another argument about Wizard purity. She was sick of how obsessed her House was on whether your parents were Muggle or Wizard, or one of each. That kind of talk was exactly what had ruined Gabriella Stone.
"Isn't Lucius Malfoy part of that new group?" Rohan Sandhu asked. "What do they call themselves? 'Death Eaters', or something like that."
"The ones responsible for the upsurge in Dark Magic all around the country?" Adrian asked eagerly, having heard some sixth-year Slytherins talk about it excitedly.
"They're not a new group," George Walters said. "I swear I read somewhere that they've been around since the 1940s."
"Just some purist fanatic extremist group, I suppose." Sophie remarked dismissively. "But I didn't know Lucius Malfoy was one of them."
Severus had had no idea that his old friend was now part of this new apparently rather niche extreme pure-blood supremacy group. Most people dismissed extremists groups like that, even though a lot of Wizards (especially Slytherins) had prejudiced views on Muggles. But still, it was unsettling to here that Lucius was now part of one of them, as distanced as Severus was from the whole Muggle-Wizard supremacy polemic. That was despite him being a Half-Blood himself, not that he'd ever thought much about it.
"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know, since my parents also said that he was going to send you a present." Mitchell Clearwater continued, happy that he could move the conversation away from Death Eaters and Wizard blood-purity.
'A Present?" Jacob Harper exclaimed. "From Lucius Malfoy? Bloody hell, Snape, you're in for a treat!"
"The Malfoys are one of the wealthiest Wizard families in Britain!" Adrian muttered enviously. "I wish I could receive a present from them!"
"Maybe you should break your legs, then." Ella Bakersfield teased Adrian, who only rolled his eyes in response.
"A present?" Severus echoed. "He's never gotten me a present before, except for that one Christmas in first year. He must be so shocked that I'm on the Slytherin Quidditch Team now."
"Was Lucius Malfoy on the Slytherin Quidditch Team back in 1971?" Rohan Sandhu asked. "We were all in first year then, so it's hard to remember."
"No, definitely not," replied Mitchell. "Although he was a big fan of Quidditch. Completely obsessed with the Wizard World Cup, as we all are I suppose."
"I can't wait to see what he's bought for you!" Adrian exclaimed in anticipation.
"Adrian!" Molly Andrews chastisted. "The present is not for you!"
"But I can still see it, can't I?" Adrian asked hopefully.
"Of course!" Severus smiled. "I'll open it up tomorrow morning right before your morning lessons, so you can come to the ward as it arrives by Owl Post."
"Thanks, Severus!" Adrian replied. "I'll be here at seven o'clock!"
"Guess we'll have to skip breakfast then..." Molly Andrews said.
"No we don't!" Adrian corrected her. "We'll just have to be there at six-thirty, when it opens!"
George Walters and Jacob Harper inwardly groaned, but the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch Team didn't seem to mind - the present Severus was to receive from Lucius Malfoy was no doubt a hugely precious and expensive one, so they'd do anything to see it before anyone else!"
For the rest of the evening, the eleven members of the Slytherin Quidditch Team finished the rest of the Honeydukes sweets and chocolates, joked about the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team (although Severus and Sophie did feel a bit bad doing so) and spoke about Severus's amazing broom skills.
"I can't wait to see you back on your feet!" Mitchell Clearwater told Severus. "You need to show us that backward flip again! How long are you stuck in those casts again?"
"I can't do much for a month, and then for the month after that I can start walking again and doing low-risk exercises. By the end of two months, I should be back to normal. Maybe a little more fragile than normal for a few weeks, but basically back to normal!"
"Ugh, that's so long!" Priya Johar complained. "We're lucky we only have one game per term!"
Severus found it hilarious that two to three months' recovery was considered a 'long time' in the Magical World, when in the Muggle World two broken legs would take up to six months to heal! Still, he wasn't complaining. He'd be back to playing Quidditch before Christmas.
"As soon as you're back on your feet, we'll have to plan out our strategy for next term's match against Ravenclaw. It's in February, I think."
"Can you learn to do the forward's mid-air cartwheel by then?" Adrian asked Severus hopefully, to which the entire Slytherin Quidditch Team burst out in laughter.
"Only three wizards have ever performed that move successfully!" George Walters pointed out, still laughing at Adrian's naive comment.
"Give him a chance!" Mitchel Clearwater agreed, his broad smile showing in his voice. Although he was greatly impressed by Severus's Quidditch broom skills, performing a mid-air cartwheel after having recently broken your legs wasn't just unheard of, it was frankly impossible! Poor innocent little Adrian!, Mitchell smiled again.
Lily was nervous. She was walking past the Gryffindor Common Room, into the grand arched hall way that lined the Gryffindor House Quarters, heading for the Hospital Ward that was situated in the opposite end of Hogwarts Castle. She was carrying a small metal box, in which she had carefully placed the five Choco-Fudge Liquorice Wands that she'd spent the entire afternoon making. She really hoped her Chocolate Antidote would be to Severus's liking, although she was sure that it would be. Sev's favourite things were Liquorice Wands, chocolate, and fudge. An Antidote fusion of all his favourite things to cure his frustration in being stuck in the Hospital Ward. She was excited to see him try it.
After a few minutes, she eventually rose up the spiral staircase that led onto the Hospital Ward, but as she stepped onto the last stone step an intense smell hit her right in the face. What on earth?
It was only after five seconds of standing there and trying to figure out where the smell was coming from that Lily recognised the powerful odour. It was Honeydukes! That deliciously appealing smell of caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, cacao and fudge was wafting across the entire corridor, and Lily soon realised that the smell was coming from the large bin stationed outside the ward, apparently filled to the brim with empty Honeydukes wrappers.
Just as Lily was peering inside the bin, she heard the raucous laughter that was emanating from inside the Hospital Ward. Discreetly looking through the glass section of the Hospital Ward door, Lily could see a huge group of students surrounding a single ward bed, each of them grinning as if one of them had said something really stupid and hilarious.
"Give him a chance!" A voice joked loudly, and Lily immediately recognised it as the voice of Mitchell Clearwater, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain.
What is he doing in the Hospital Ward? Lily wondered, until she realised that every single one of that large group in the ward were Slytherin Quidditch Team members. Why were they all there? Lily wondered again. And why were there so many empty Honeydukes wrappers in the bin? Lily scrunched up her eyes to peer further into the ward, and realised that the sea of empty Honeydukes wrappers was in the ward also, all stuffed inside this huge mahogany trunk that was perched on the chair adjacent to the bed on which Lily presumed Severus was sitting.
As if submerged into a waterfall of icy water, Lily realised what they were all doing there. They, like her, had thought it would be a nice idea to pay a visit to Severus in order to keep him company in the lonely cold hours of a mid-September evening. And they, like her, had thought it would be nice to gift Severus with some treats from Honeydukes. But whereas Lily had spent most of her Saturday walking around Hogsmeade, wondering what exactly to get for Severus, they must have gone the following day on Sunday. And from the looks of it, they'd only gone and bought the entire Honeydukes shop!
"I bet you he could do it by seventh year!" Another voice said confidently, this one more feminine.
Lily also recognised that voice - she couldn't miss it. It was the voice of Sophie Evergreen, and Lily was certain that she was the one who had orchestrated all of this. She was the one who had planned that the entire Slytherin Quidditch Team pay Severus a visit, and send him the entire sweet and chocolate stock of Honeydukes with them!
Embarrassment reddened Lily's cheeks as she took a look at her measly five Choco-Fudge Liquorice Wands. What use were they now, when Severus had probably just eaten fifteen Liquorice Wands, five slabs of Treacle Fudge, and three Chocolate Frogs? He'd probably just look at her Antidote with disappointment. Completely humiliated, Lily turned away from the Hospital Ward door and sprinted down the spiral staircase onto the lower floor and in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room. It had all been for nothing! The hours she had spent on her Antidote for Severus and even the mind-numbingly boring conversation she had had to endure with Professor Slughorn had all been nothing - that rich and spoiled blonde Slytherin brat had just asked her parents to buy her the whole of Honeydukes to give to Severus! How on earth could she compete with that?
With tears welling up in her eyes, Lily ran through the Gryffindor Common Room doors, having mumbled the password to an angry-looking Fat Lady, and headed for her dormitory as quickly as possible. Just as she had feared, she was becoming irrelevant in Severus's life. Downgraded. Cast aside. Replaced. She felt mortified, and sincerely hoped that no one had seen her standing by the Hospital Ward entrance. Throwing open the doors of her dormitory, she ran straight to her bed covers and dived underneath, letting her tears fall down from her eyes.