Trauma:
The water engulfed her as she thrashed about. Hands pulled her up and she recognized the classroom. Filch's hands pushed her back down before she could regain her breath. Every part of her body was heavy. His hands pulled her down as the surface of the water got farther away. The light dimmed and she descended. Her struggles provided no rescue.
Suddenly, she was pulled back to the surface as if caught on a fishing line. She fell to her knees on the bank, coughing up the water from her lungs. If poured out of her as the Weasley twins watched in horror. The grounds filled with water as she coughed it up. Everything was lost as she felt her lungs fill with water. Her body heaved several times as it searched for air to no avail. The hands that held her down began to shake her.
No light.
The shaking continued, but Lucy floated in the dark waters. Hands gripped her arms, increasing their efforts to shake her down. The water should have chilled her, but she felt hot. She was on fire. Her lungs burned and the heat was unbearable, but she felt the water rushing around her. Currents rushed past her as the hands shook her.
Someone was calling her name.
She couldn't hear them well, but they sounded desperate. How could they speak underwater? The hands still gripped her arm, but the shaking ceased. Let go. If they let go, she could drift into the void. Let go.
"Lucy!"
xXx
Severus relaxed his grip on Lucy's arm as her eyes flew open. Her eyes darted across the room, as if everything was new to her. A coughing fit wracked her body as Severus took a deep breath. Her breathing steadied and her chest returned to its normal rate of expansion. The wall lined with several pieces of artwork caught her attention for a moment before she slowly looked around, confused. She released a whimper as she wiped the sweat from her brow and locked eyes with Severus.
"You had a night terror." He explained.
She shook her head. "No."
"No?"
"No." She closed her fits and balled her fists over her chest. Her next words were so quiet he wasn't sure she meant to say them out loud. "It was real."
Severus sat at the side of her bed, giving her a moment to compose herself.
She opened her eyes, seeking his once more. "I couldn't breathe. The water-" Her voice caught and she whimpered again, eyes tearing up.
He nodded. "The incident at the lake was traumatic."
"What?"
"You've suffered great trauma. Your memories have mixed with fears to create nightmares like your others."
She shook her head adamantly. "It was real. It felt real."
"It was not." He stood up. "It was only a dream."
She watched him leave her room, but she didn't dare let herself fall back asleep. Mittens seemed to have no problem falling asleep between the girl's legs. Must be nice.
xXx
"She's unstable."
The nurse scoffed as she finished putting away the various potions Severus had brought her for the hospital store. As she exited the storeroom, the man's brow furrowed.
"She has night terrors. Frequently."
"I remember a certain young boy who used to come to me for Dreamless Sleep before I warned him of the dangers of overindulging." He scowled, but waited for her to continue. "What did you do to overcome your night terrors, Severus?"
"I hardly expect a nine year old to start occluding her fears away."
Poppy's head jerked back as if she'd been slapped. "Occlumency!"
Severus clasped his hands together and waited for her to regain her senses.
"Why, no, I don't believe a child should have to experiment in such magics."
Severus unclasped his hands, splaying them out as if to further emphasize his lack of a solution. The colleagues stood in silence for several minutes. Poppy straightened some bedding that was already straight before she posed her solution.
"St. Mungo's has an excellent -"
"No."
Poppy left out an exasperated breath. "Well, she might need more than Hogwarts can give her."
"I know."
xXx
Lucy fidgeted in her seat, running her hands through her hair aggressively. In front of her, a beginners potions textbook lay open to the page of the potion she was going to get to brew that afternoon. The cure for boils was supposed to be an elementary potion, but it was her first one. She had read the steps what seemed like a billion times, but she kept forgetting them when she tried to recite them to herself.
She covered her mouth as a yawn escaped. She hadn't been sleeping well. Every night, she seemed to find herself facing her father or the water. Sometimes both. She hadn't even been able to return to her favorite spot to sit by the lake. It just didn't feel safe anymore.
Fred and George had tried to apologize several times, bringing her candies and trinkets they probably got while sneaking out to the nearby town, Hogsmead. Each time, she politely declined their gifts and told them she wasn't upset with them. She really wasn't. They just seemed a little too rowdy for her comfort levels.
Lucy didn't even go to the Great Hall for lunch. She was too nervous and her stomach couldn't handle it. When lunch was wrapping up, she put the potion textbook back on the library shelf and made her way to the potions classroom.
She's only been there a couple times when looking for Severus. After she interrupted a class in session, he made it very publicly clear that she was not to enter the classroom without a prior appointment. She had never felt more embarrassed in the castle as she did that day. The students - who had paused their brewing to observe the interruption - had given her varying looks of pity and sympathy.
Today, she had an appointment at exactly 1 pm and she was not going in there earlier than that. But she wasn't going to chance being later either, so she picked up her pace.
At the door, Lucy waited until she heard the chimes of the clock tower before she knocked.
"Enter."
When Lucy went through the door, she found a desk already set up for her. A cauldron was already in a stand. Next to it, a similar textbook to the one she studied in the library was open to the instructions. 6 snake fangs, 4 horned slugs, and 2 porcupine quills were between the cauldron and the textbook. So I don't have to prove I can get the right ingredients today.
Severus cleared his throat, drawing the girl's attention to the front of the classroom. He stood in front of his desk, watching her expectantly as she still stood in the aisle between desks.
"Sorry," He said nothing as she stepped onto the stoll he had transfigured for her. From this new vantage point, she also noticed a small box to the right of the stand. Next to it, a clean mortar and pestle sat.
At her confusion, he explained. "Seeing as you do not possess a wand or the ability to do magic wandlessly, it follows that you cannot magically produce the necessary fire for brewing." Lucy's shoulders dropped at the reminder. "In the interest of keeping you independent for this exercise, you'll have to employ muggle means of sparking flames."
Lucy picked the box up, finding the texture interesting.
"You'll take a match and strike it against the side of the box to light it. As for water, you'll have to use the sink." He sat at his desk, grading essays, as the girl continued to explore the matchbox.
After a moment, she set the box down and looked at the sink. It looked like it hadn't been used in years. Not a drop of water could be found in or around the basin. She grabbed the cauldron, surprised at its weight. She inhaled and held it to her body with both hands, partially using her thighs to keep it up.
Heaving it onto the counter, she turned the cold spout. Definitely not used often. It took a little effort, but soon the water came steadily. She lifted the cauldron with great effort, finding the height of the counter to impede her ability to get a good hold on it. The thud of the cauldron hitting the basin made her flinch, but the water flowed into the cauldron in a matter of seconds. Once it was nearly full, she shut the water off and attempted to lift the cauldron.
It didn't budge.
Worried, she glanced over to Severus, only to find him just as interested in the grading as he had been when he first dismissed her to her task. She looked back at the cauldron, suddenly feeling very defeated. So much for independence.
She looked back to her guardian, debating if it was worth interrupting him. His eyes briefly met hers before finding the cauldron still in the sink. Looking back at the essay before him, he flicked his hand. Suddenly, the cauldron began to rise. Lucy watched in awe as it made its way back to the stand.
"Thank you," She got back to her stool and peered into the cauldron. All of the water was still inside. One day, she was going to be able to do cool things like make cauldrons float just like he could.
She grabbed the box of matches and slid it open. Grabbing one of the sticks, she inspected the end with the red coating. She gently slid the match against the side of the box that felt weird.
Nothing.
Her brow furrowed and her lips curled in as she repeated the attempt. Again, nothing. She slid it faster against the box. By the time her grin formed, the flame was already gone. Appalled, she inspected the now blackened end of the match. She dropped it onto the table and retrieved a second match.
This time, the match cooperated with her. She lit the stand at the base of the cauldron, dropping the match to the desk as she feared it got too near her fingers. Smiling to herself, she picked up the snake fangs.
As she waited for the first bubbles in the cauldron to begin to form, she put the snake fangs into the mortar. She crushed them until they were powdered, occasionally glancing into the cauldron to see if it was boiling yet.
Once she started seeing bubbles, she dumped the crushed snake fangs into it. Looking around, she spotted a clean stir rod on the counter by the sink. Quickly, she retrieved it and got back to her workstation to stir the contents of her brew. She glanced at the textbook, reminding herself what was next.
"It says I need to wave my wand for this step."
Severus walked over, observing the color of her brew. Nodding to himself, he waved his wand over her cauldron before returning to his desk. Now Lucy just had to wait for it to be ready for the next step.
After nearly an hour, she put the horned slugs into the mix. She grabbed the porcupine quills, but before she could drop them in the cauldron, the contents vanished. Alarmed, she looked to the front of the room. Severus was standing before her, a scowl on his face.
"What happened?"
"I vanished the potion before you could burn a hole through the desk." He said it like it was obvious.
"But the next step is to add 2 porcupine quills. I was about to add them!" She dropped the quills on the desk, wiping her hands against her pants in frustration. Her hands were sweating now. She had studied the instructions. She was ready.
"Read it again." He stared at her until she dipped her head to reread the instructions.
Part 2.
1. Add 4 horned slugs to your cauldron.
2. Take the cauldron off the fire before adding the next ingredient.
Lucy closed her eyes. Even now, the empty cauldron was still on the fire. She kept her eyes down as she straightened.
"I'm sorry, Severus. I thought I read it enough times. I didn't mean to skip a step."
Severus scoffed. "If intention saved us from the consequences of mistakes, there would be no need for care. As it is, consequences occur even when we don't mean them to." At the wave of his wand, he extinguished the fire and returned to his desk. "Until you can pay attention, you'll stick to the theory of potion making."
Lucy nodded, hoping the tears forming in her eyes would wait until after he dismissed her. She sniffed, but held her head back to keep her cheeks dry. She watched as he grabbed the next essay.
"You can start by considering the importance of following instructions." When she didn't move, he paused his grading to look at her. "You're dismissed."
Lucy practically ran out of the classroom.
xXx
"What a git!" Tonks' hair had darkened to a deep red to match her flushed face as she heard Lucy's account of the failed brewing session. "Do you need me to tell him off for you?"
Lucy shook her head, pushing food around on her plate.
"Well, if you change your mind, just let me know. Really," Tonks returned her attention to her own plate, her hair slowly turning back to its typical pink hue.
Once Tonks returned to Hogwarts after the spring break, Lucy confessed her regrets of her own spring break. Of course, Tonks was immediately on the girl's side, but Lucy had a feeling it didn't take much for her to side against Severus. Most of the students seemed to have a similarly negative view of the potion master. After having to attempt to brew that potion, she had to admit he was intimidating.
"Thank you, Tonks. Really," Even if Lucy didn't want Tonks to risk all her House points going off on Severus, it did comforter to know she had someone willing to defend her. She only hoped Tonks didn't forget her when she finished her studies in a few weeks.