Chapter 25 – Friendship and pain
It was the second time that Neville shared a compartment with Katia Ivanov. It was purely accidental because he had boarded the train quite early, and after she asked if she could join him, none of the other students wanted to sit with them. His friends didn't want to sit with a Slytherin, and then Katia shut the curtains so that no one else would see her.
She seemed insecure as she practically darted into the compartment. Neville had nothing against it, though.
"How was your holiday?" asked Katia, as she unpacked some candies and offered him some.
Neville sighed heavily. "I've visited my parents at St. Mungo's, and I heard some rants from my Gran. She's happy that I'm good at Herbology, though she's worried that my Potions grade could ruin my future if I don't get any better."
"It may be a bold and unwelcome question, but why are your parents in St. Mungo's, Neville?"
Neville looked through the window and hesitated for a moment. "My parents were tortured to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange. They've been in a catatonic-like state since then. It happened when I was very little."
Katia laughed at that, and it was a bitter laugh. Her face was disbelieving, but this laugh offended him. She quickly recovered. "That fucking bitch did that to your parents, killed indefinite number muggles, and just sits on her arse in Azkaban? Hell if I was a Minister of magic, I would use a nice set of torture instruments from the dark ages on her. I would cut her into tiny pieces, limb by limb; not put her in Azkaban."
Neville imagined a little from what Katia had said; there was a little satisfaction by the thought, but it was simply replaced by terror. It was awful and disgusting to even think to do that.
"You don't agree, I see. Would you prefer to execute her, then?"
"I dunno; I would just let her rot in prison, I suppose."
Katia put a strand of hair behind her ear. "Neville I'm terribly sorry for your parents. It's just I didn't know what to say, but what I've said about that Bella-bitch is true. It's incredibly unfair to let her be like that."
Her heart fell for Neville, and with her inner turmoil about the future, it was a mile stone. What was worth her feelings to Marcus compared to this? Her father made it clear: that everything what happened, such as the War, will happen again, and it was getting more and more obvious that he was right.
"My mother and her lover were killed by Death Eaters, and I saw everything from under the bed."
"That- That's horrible!" exclaimed Neville, and he clamped his hand against his mouth. Neville's genuine shock told her, that Weasley, Potter, and Hermione had kept their mouths shut after she had told them about her parents.
"It is, and I swear I will do anything to bring those motherfuckers down." She shook her head a little and laced her fingers together. "At least they rest in peace now, and I'm past grieving. Your situation is far worse, and yet, you're not full of anger like I am. What is more, you're quite a cheerful person, and I truly admire you for that, Neville."
Neville blushed. No one had ever told him that they admired him. "Why?" he asked in small voice.
Katia smiled, and he liked this smile. Her full lips had a nice shape, and the smile reached her eyes. She had tiny wrinkles from smiling, and something in her was so genuine in her that it touched his heart.
It was a shame that she usually hid this side of her under a stiff demeanor.
"Why Neville? Because to have your experiences and to stay happy and not full of vengeance ...you have a bigger heart than people give you credit for. When I first met you, I had a feeling that there's more to you than meets the eye, but now I know it's true."
Neville laced his fingers together and looked at his hands. "Katia I- I know you're good at Potions and thought that um, that maybe you could, if you could find time because you're very busy-"
Katia stopped him. "I can help you, Neville. Now that I don't have a boyfriend, I've got a lot more time."
They started to discuss Potions straight away, and the rest or train ride went by in a rather academic atmosphere.
When the train started to slow down, Neville excused himself, but he got back rather quickly, and had a terrified Ginny Weasley in tow. What was wrong with this girl to make a scared expression every time they passed each other on the corridor? Katia wondered.
"Hello, I'm Katia Ivanov," she said, and extended her hand.
"G-Ginny Weasley," said the red head, and she took Katia's hand with hesitation.
"Girl, I won't bite you. Being a Slytherin doesn't mean that I have hostile notions towards you."
Ginny nodded. "I don't know why, but when I see you it's like I've seen something horrible and related to you. It's not personal, and I-I can't help it."
Neville patted Ginny's arm gently. "Katia is a really nice girl. She gave me a wonderful scarf last year, and she didn't mind my clumsiness when we travelled last time." He smiled sheepishly, and Katia returned the smile.
They parted in Hogsmeade and Ginny was happy to not be in Katia's presence any more.
"Come on Flint, come on!" roared Montague.
Graham slammed hand against his forehead. Flint missed a quaffle thrown at him because he was too busy looking at the people on tribunes.
Graham dove down and caught the quaffle just before Ravenclaw could score.
Hermione, who was watching the game unconsciously, was focused on Flint as well. They had had two tutoring sessions and she was surprised, that Flint was indeed intelligent, but he lacked confidence.
Hermione was also getting the idea of why Katia liked him in the first place. When Flint put aside the house rivalry, and when they studied, there was no hint of animosity, and he treated Hermione gentlemanly; he pulled out the chairs for her, was never late, and he even carried the books for her.
He tried to crack a joke about himself few times, and would flash her a lopsided smile, but mostly he was grim, angry, or sad.
There was a loud "Owwwww!" and "He's falling!" as Flint collided with the Ravenclaw seeker, Cho Chang. She almost fell from her broomstick, but managed hold on.
Draco Malfoy used this to his advantage, and got the Snitch.
Slytherin won, but just barely, and having Flint as a giant obstacle on the pitch wasn't helpful at all.
Graham Montague was angry as hell. If Flints poor performances continued, they can forget about winning against Gryffindor. He was really angry, as he couldn't put any sense into Flint. He wanted to hit his head against the wall. Repeatedly.
The door shut with a loud bang as Severus Snape entered the classroom.
"Today we will be making the Reviving Potion. Who knows what its exact purpose is and what the main ingredients are?"
He looked around the class and saw that no hand was up in the air. Not even Granger, who seemed cross today. Ivanov also wasn't participating, and was instead looking down at her parchment and doodling.
"No one?" Pansy Parkinson raised her hand uncertainly. "Miss Parkinson?"
"The potion serves to wake up a person in various... er... cases like... umm... for example, an unconscious person, and the main ingredient would be... um... coffee beans, I mean purple coffee beans."
Snape fought the urge to roll his eyes. "And those purple coffee beans are commonly found where?"
"Where unicorns shits," whispered someone from behind him.
Snape spun around "How very observant you are."
Theodore Nott shrunk in his seat a little. Snape didn't need a more obvious clue as who had said that. "I require a foot long essay about the various uses of purple coffee beans as well as regular coffee beans." He looked Nott's straight in the eye and then continued with the lecture.
The list of ingredients appeared on the board, and the students rushed to gather the ingredients.
Neville had briefly gone over this potion before, but under Snape's frequent gaze, he became exceptionally nervous. He took a vial out of his schoolbag and managed to add one drop exactly as instructed. It would maintain a good result, even if he messed up something during the preparation.
"Not that thick, Weasley," hissed Snape.
His professor's voice caused Neville to jump in his seat, and he dropped the whole vial into cauldron.
Katia shot Neville a glance from time to time and she saw the exact moment when Neville dropped the vial.
"Everybody get down!" she shouted. The student body did as she said immediately. Only her professor hesitated for a moment. He managed to bend down, and the volatile substance splashed his lower back.
"Everybody out!" shouted Katia, when she was sure there was fairly sure that nothing was left in Neville's cauldron to explode. "Granger, get Madam Pomfrey now!"
Everybody tried to push through the door at the same time. Hermione was one of the last who managed to get through.
Katia took a vial of Defying Salve, which she kept handy in case Neville spilled the contents of his vial on himself. She rushed to her professor, who was breathing heavily and was trying to make his way to the cabinet.
"Sir, please let me help you as it's burning your flesh further," she said, and without waiting for a response, she put the salve on the growing burn. The skin, which looked like boiling sauce, changed to a violent red.
Severus sat on the stone floor, and took some deep breaths. If not for Ivanov and her immediate action, the potion would have burned his flesh through to the bone. The pain was still there, but it wasn't a blinding, searing pain which made him unable to speak earlier.
"Thank you," he said.
"No problem, sir," said Katia as she crouched down next to him. She discreetly checked her lower back as well, because the moment she touched Snape to put the salve on, she felt pain.
They sat in silence for a while, and soon the door opened, to reveal a winded Madam Pomfrey.
Before the nurse said anything, Katia stood up. "It was Chaparral essence," she said simply, and, with a nod to her Professor and the nurse, she left, and shut door behind her.
She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Dear Rasputin, that was a hippogriff sized disaster. She gave Neville a whole vial to help him alter his potions, but it was for the whole semester. She hadn't been expecting for him to drop it whole into the cauldron. She'd seen him measuring one drop precisely, and then BOOM, he almost killed Snape.
Katia slid down and covered her face with her hands.
The worst part was the fact it was Katia's stupidity that caused this. She knew that Neville was terrified of Professor Snape – even his Boggart had Snape's form– and yet, she hadn't predicted the catastrophe here.
Seventh year Slytherin students passed the Potion classroom as they headed for Arithmancy. Marcus Flint spotted Katia; his gaze went elsewhere and he clenched his jaw.
Katia saw black legs that quickened their pace. Morrigan joined Marcus and babbled about something, obviously taking Flint's attention off herself.
Marcus was really tired of the never-ending tirade from Graham Montague. He knew that he had screwed up, and but Graham didn't have to remind him every waking hour that Marcus was still the captain and that he had his responsibilities.
It was probably the only reason why Marcus had joined the Malfoy brat and his sidekicks in that stupid Dementor joke.
Malfoy was sick with jealousy over Potter's new broom. Usually, Marcus would have been jealous too, but now he didn't give a shit about who had the better broom. If not for Malfoy's father, Marcus would probably have a school broom, because his father wasn't exactly eager to reward him after he failed his exams.
Potter's Patronus had hit him rather hard, and when tried to get rid of the blasted costume, McGonagall came in, giving detentions and taking an incredible amount of house points away. That's how he ended siding with Malfoy.
Marcus knew that now McGonagall would have just another reason to hate him. He knew he had improved in Transfiguration because of his lessons with Hermione. They not only gave him confidence, but also made some things come to him more naturally now. But today, he lowered his chances.
He was absent minded during his detention. He was cleaning toilets without magic and finished rather fast, opposite to Malfoy, who fussed over it and made disgusted noises.
He had another worry now. Hermione was throwing him daggers with her eyes.
Marcus said a shy "Hello," and braced himself for a rant.
"I thought you were different," said Hermione, and it hurt.
"I'm sorry," he replied, defeated.
Hermione leaned towards him "You were trying to sabotage a match because you're jealous of Harry. I can't believe it!" she hissed angrily.
Marcus' hand curled into a fist.
"Don't you dare to do that in the library!" warned Hermione.
He sighed and rested his face in his palms. "I said I'm sorry. And you're wrong about the broomstick. I don't give a shit about it."
"Language," she scolded him. "Why did you do it then?"
"I've been doing stupid things lately, ok? And you're exhausting yourself."
Hermione was surprised that he noticed. "It's nothing," she lied, but with Harry and Ron not speaking to her, and her overloaded schedule, she barely could hold on any longer.
"I believe it would be better if you could get some rest instead of tutoring me. I've just screwed up my chances to pass, I saw McGonagall's face. She was pissed off."
"Language, Marcus, and it's Professor McGonagall. I promised myself, that I will help you pass this year, and I'm going to keep it."
"But something is troubling you, I can see it. Don't tell it's just studies, because I'm not buying it," he said. Marcus looked at her through his fingers.
Hermione hesitated. Should she tell him or not? He seemed observant, and she never heard him talking ill about Katia when he was upset about her. No one knew about their arrangement, and he kept it that way. On the other side, she spilled her heart to Hagrid. Maybe Marcus could tell her something constructive, since he was hurt, too.
"My friends are not talking to me, because I reported Harry's present to Professor McGonagall, and it was taken for inspection. The whole house looks at me like I'm an outcast. Ron thinks, that my cat is going to kill his rat at the top of that, and he hates my pet."
There, she said it.
Marcus thought for a moment. "Situation like this would be impossible in Slytherin. We do not care about each other that way. Probably everyone would wait and see if Potter's broom isn't hexed."
Hermione opened her mouth. "It's, it's unfair to think this way. And would you wait just like that? Would you act the same like they would?"
Marcus decided to be straightforward. "Yes, unless it was a really close friend of mine, but first, I would discuss it with him or her. Otherwise, I would leave it."
That seemed fair enough for a Slytherin. She continued, unable to stop herself. "They hate me." She looked at the table. "All of them, and I just wanted to make sure that Harry is safe."
Hermione felt that she was breaking, again. She risked a glance towards Flint and there was no trace of mockery on his face.
"And that makes you a good friend, Hermione. They will see it eventually, or they're not worth your friendship."
He looked at her and saw that she was crying. He hesitantly moved his hand toward her but stopped, and looked at her.
Hermione took it and felt his firm, but comforting grip. She looked at his face, and really she looked for the first time.
Even with his big, uneven teeth, he had a nice face, and he gave her a smile that she hadn't seen before. It was a sad, wise smile, and in that moment, she felt something in her stomach drop.
She smiled too and slowly let go of his hand to wipe away her tears.
"I think we will study tomorrow," she said.
"I agree," he replied.
When she got back into Gryffindor common room, her face fell. No one had even noticed that she had left. Hermione had spread her notes on a table and started to do her Arithmancy homework.
That evening wasn't so nice to Hermione. About two o'clock in the morning, Ron started to yell about Sirius Black, and he shouted at her that her cat had eaten Scrabbers.
After the horrible accident, everything seemed like it was back to normal now. Professor Snape was throwing deadly glances in Harry's and Neville's direction, and no one talked about the explosion.
Severus had noticed, that both Ivanov and Granger looked worse for the wear, and both had dark circles under their eyes. Both of them were silent and touchy, and didn't seem to be enjoying their work; it looked as if both of them were trying to make the potion as quickly as possible just to be over with.
Ivanov seemed to have a heart for Potions, and she usually did more than to just simply follow the instructions. She studied every potion, tried to improve the formula, and every time that Severus graded her potion as O, she would beam.
Now she was crushing, grinding, and stirring methodically, but not really paying attention. Granger had overloaded schedule, he could let her go, but Ivanov irked him to no end.
Severus graded the potions and dismissed the class. "A word if you please, Miss Ivanov," he said when she was taking her leave.
She stiffened and turned around. "Yes, sir."
Severus smiled, but it was a nasty, unpleasant smile. "Do you have any problems you would like to share with me?"
She shook her head. "No, sir." Her nostrils flared and her jaw was clenched, but none of it was noticeable in her calm voice.
"If that's so, then why has your attention during classes dropped considerably? Why are you merely following instructions, and doing nothing more?"
Severus's eyes were boring into hers, but she didn't drop her gaze.
"I think that I had no idea on how to improve those potions, so I just did them the best that I could."
Severus wanted to roll his eyes. "I believe that I have an idea to bring to your muse, Miss Ivanov, and do you know what I think?" He dropped voice to the silky tones that terrified students the most. Ivanov's eyes widened a bit, and he scored himself a point.
"I have no idea, sir."
"You will tutor two first year students so that they can pass my class with at least an Acceptable. It will be devoid of a lot of inspiration, but Miss Anabella Swan and Mr. Gilbert Bullstrode need your help. I believe that two sessions a week for one month should be enough. Do you agree, Miss Ivanov?"
She gave a small nod. "Yes sir."
"You will come to me every Tuesday and Thursday at six o'clock so I can open the Potion classroom for you. You will teach them, supervise them, and keep everything clean without using magic. You can go to your next lesson now."
When she had left, Severus went back to his musings. Was she involved in the late accident or wasn't she? He had never seen her associate with Longbottom, so helping him was implausible. She didn't seem dimwitted like some of her classmates, so throwing the Chaparral essence into his cauldron was also not her style.
Hermione was tired beyond belief. She was jumpy and on the verge of tears all the time. She met Marcus and again spilled her heart to him.
"If you want my opinion, I wouldn't bother myself with Weasley for now, and would drop at least one subject. Divination is a completely useless subject.
"You think so?"
"Yes, just look at it! Trelawney is wrapping everything into destiny-mystery gibberish when it suits her. You should drop more than one subject."
Hermione looked determined. "I can't!"
Marcus sighed. "Then at least drop Divination. I think that our sessions can wait a bit. You need rest."
Hermione was crying again. "I've prepared the lesson,. You think that I'm not-not capable of teaching you any longer?"
"No, I think you're tired and that you need to get some sleep." Hermione started to cry more. He rose, circled the table, and crouched to be at Hermione's level. She was a sobbing mess. Marcus wanted her to be back to her bossy self, who promised herself that she'll do everything in her power to help him pass his exams.
"Hermione," he just said softly. She flung herself at him, and hugged him tight. Marcus felt a bit awkward, but he circled his arms around her, and gently stroked her hair. "No one can help you if you can't help yourself," he stated simply.
She rested her head in a crook of him arm and soaked his shirt with her tears. They stayed like this, Marcus holding her, crouching and she resting in his embrace. After some time she calmed down.
"I never imagined that you are like that," she said quietly as she wiped her tears away.
Marcus smirked and sat on the chair across from her. "Same to you. I never thought you could be more than just Potter's sidekick who is just a studious bookworm."
Hermione laughed at this, and he was genuinely happy in this moment to see her in better mood. He couldn't help that but feel a bit of pride because he had helped Hermione feel better.
He sent her to Gryffindor tower, with instructions for her to go to sleep.
Trust to Hermione to go to sleep when she had so much to study.
A/N: Thanks to Artemis J. Halk for corrections. without them, it wouldn't be readible at all. Will I ever learn? :/
Anyways... your reviews cheered me up and I LOVE to know what you think. It makes me keep going with writing despite how overloaded I am with my work. Do you like where the story is going? Would you like to change something for better?
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