𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐝 {𝐇. 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫}

37

Johnny didn't reappear in classes until late on Thursday morning, when the Slytherins and Gryffindors were halfway through double Potions. He stumbled into the dungeon, his right arm in bandages. He looked worse than when Hermione had visited him in the evenings. He was very pale, with black bags under his eyes.

"How is it, Johnny?" Hermione asked as Johnny sat next to her. "Does it hurt much?"

"Yeah," said Johnny, grimacing as he moved his bag off his shoulder.

"Settle down, settle down," said Professor Snape idly.

Harry and Ron scowled at each other; Snape wouldn't have said 'settle down' if they'd walked in late, he'd have given them detention. But Johnny had always been able to get away with things in Snape's classes; Snape was head of Slytherin House, and generally favored his own students above all others.

They were making a new potion today, a Shrinking Solution. Johnny set up his cauldron next to Hermione and Ron, so that they were preparing their ingredients on the same table.

"S-Sir," Johnny called, clutching the edge of the table to keep his balance, "I-I'll need help cutting up these daisy roots --"

"Weasley, cut up Grindelwald's roots for him," said Snape without looking up.

Ron went brick red.

"There's nothing wrong with your arm," he hissed at Johnny.

"Oh of course there is!" Hermione said, taking over Ron's job. "Look at him! You can see the blood still coming from his arm!"

Ron grumbled and seized the knife back from Hermione, pulled Johnny's roots toward him, and began to chop them roughly, so that they were all different sizes.

"P-Professor," drawled Johnny, "Ron's mutilating my roots."

Snape approached their table, stared down his hooked nose at the roots, then gave Ron an unpleasant smile from beneath his long, greasy black hair.

"Change roots with Johnny, Weasley."

"But, sir --!"

Ron had spent the last quarter of an hour carefully shredding his own roots into exactly equal pieces.

"Now," said Snape in his most dangerous voice.

Ron shoved his own beautifully cut roots across the table at Johnny, then took up the knife again.

"Seen Hagrid lately?" Johnny asked them quietly, skinning his shrivelfig.

"None of your business," said Ron jerkily, without looking up.

"I'm afraid he might not be a teacher much longer," said Johnny. "Draco came to see me. His father's not very happy about an animal attacking his son and me getting the injury --"

"Since when were you and Malfoy all friendly," snarled Ron.

"-Lucius Malfoy complained to the school governors. And to the Ministry of Magic --"

"So that's why you're putting it on," said Harry, accidentally beheading a dead caterpillar because his hand was shaking in anger, "To try to get Hagrid fired."

"Harry, what the fuck?" Johnny said, undoing the blood stained bandages from his arm. "Does this look I'm faking? And why would I want Hagrid fired? He's one of my best friends!"

"Yeah, uh, sorry," Harry mumbled taking note of the open wound on Johnny's arm as Hermione helped him redo the bandaging, scolding Johnny as she did so.

A few cauldrons away, Neville was in trouble. Neville regularly went to pieces in Potions lessons; it was his worst subject, and his great fear of Professor Snape made things ten times worse. His potion, which was supposed to be a bright, acid green, had turned --