No Difference

Bubotuber Pus

"Severus, I need Murtlap Essence and a Pain Reliever potion right now! I've run out of both!" Poppy's voice yelled out as her head suddenly popped into the Floo in his office, making him tense at the intrusion into his quiet morning.

Sighing as the matron's face withdrew from the fireplace when she disconnected the call, Snape abandoned his tea and went to collect the two requested supplies, cursing the whole time. Whichever fool required medical attention this early in the day was going to be sorry they ever got out of bed. And they would be helping to brew more Pain Reliever potion for Madam Pomfrey.

A few minutes later, he strode into the hospital wing, fully intending on ripping into the troublemaker that had disrupted his morning. Only to stop short at the sight of the all too familiar bushy hair and, slowly becoming familiar, tears streaming down the girl's face. Bollocks! Again?! It hadn't even been two months since the last time he witnessed her tears! This time, she was cradling her hands against her chest. That was when he noticed the boils that had erupted on her skin. Looks like Fate had forced him to make up for his dismissal of her elongating teeth a few months ago by having him visit the girl with the supplies needed to heal her now. Clenching his jaw, he marched up to her hospital bed, ignoring the four unconscious sixth year students dotted around the room.

"Miss Granger," he ground out. "What happened?"

Her head jerked up in surprise as she gasped, "Professor!"

"What happened?" he repeated impatiently, setting the pain potion and Murtlap Essence onto the bedside table. All he heard was unintelligible mumbling, making him snap, "Speak up, girl! Merlin knows you have no problems doing so in classes!"

She winced before taking a deep breath and glaring at him. "I got a lot of hate mail because of Skeeter's article. One of them contained undiluted bubotuber pus and I didn't realize until I had touched it."

"Ah yes, your pathetic little drama with Potter and Krum," he sneered. "Tell me, Miss Granger, has the dopamine, oxytocin, and cortisol resulting from your tangled love life addled your brain? Or have you always been this daft when it comes to non-academic matters?"

A fire sparked in her eyes, cheeks blushing with a slightly pink tinge, and she clenched her fists. Or rather, tried to. The movement put pressure on the boils on her hands and she cried out. Still, after a quick glance down at her hands, she glared back up at him and said heatedly, "I am not daft! Neither do I have a love life, much less a tangled one. And even if I did, the chemicals released in my brain would not interfere with my intellectual capabilities."

"Really?" Snape said softly. It felt like a snake, getting ready for the final strike. His towering over her only served to emphasize that feeling. "I assume the envelope with the bubotuber pus was not the first of the hate mail you opened. Were the contents of the others not enough warning of the danger? After the reactions of my Slytherins as I read the whole article aloud in class a couple days ago, did you think that they would be the minority? That the article would not have severe consequences in the face of such negative public opinion? Did you think that being associated with, not one but, two celebrities in such a fashion would exempt you from harm that overzealous fans would send your way as they crucified you?"

He watched in satisfaction as every word brought her shrinking in on herself until she was sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees. Skin pale and a stricken expression on her face, she whispered, "I didn't think. Of any of that. I've been friends with Harry for so long and nothing like this has ever happened in the media. The thought didn't even cross my mind."

"Gryffindors," he sneered. "All the books in the world will not help in the face of such reckless naivety."

Eyes downcast, she murmured, "I realize that now. Thank you for bringing the potion and Murtlap Essence. And I'm sorry my thoughtlessness has taken up so much of your time. It won't happen again, Professor."

He very much doubted that promise, but at least she was sincere in her intentions. With an annoyed twist of his lips, he summoned a wash basin and prepared the Murtlap Essence, wordlessly placing it in front of her. Just as she stuck her hands in and let out a sigh of relief from the soothing properties of the Murtlap, Poppy came rushing out of her office with an armful of bottles and bandages.

"Oh good, you're here, Severus!" Poppy said in relief, bustling around to drop off various things at different bedside tables. "Thank you for bringing the supplies and tending to Miss Granger. Do you mind finishing up with her? I've got my hands full with this lot. Why these four wanted to drink a Laughing Potion and provoke all the Venomous Tentacula in the greenhouses is beyond me."

"If I must," Snape replied with a long-suffering sigh, the muscles in his jaw twitching in suppressed irritation. Turning back to the girl, he helped her down the pain potion and instructed, "Soak your hands for an hour. I have a class to teach and will be back to check on you."

"Yes, sir," she answered with a small, grateful smile. At least there were no tears in her eyes now.

Stalking out of the hospital wing, with his pitch black robes flowing behind him like the bat that he was often compared to, the students scrambled to clear the way for him in the corridors. As soon as he neared his classroom, he saw that two of his students were in the middle of a fistfight and took a second to look skyward in askance of what he had done to deserve this morning. Then, he pulled the two students apart, deducting points and assigning a week of detentions in a deadly calm voice as his eyes burned holes into them. Flaring out his fingers to release their collars like he was letting go of something disgusting, he commanded his class to get inside before they all got a month of detentions. No one made a sound as they nearly tripped over themselves to comply. And no one made a sound for the rest of the period, except to answer his questions. That gave him time to focus half of his attention on deciding what to do with a certain naïve know-it-all. By the time class ended, he had his solution.

Striding into the hospital wing, he saw the girl still had her hands in the basin of Murtlap Essence, like he had instructed, but she was also reading a book. Typical bookworm. Meanwhile, Poppy continued to be busy tending to the other four students. The matron disappeared into her office, muttering a list of more supplies to grab.

"Miss Granger, take your hands out of the basin," Snape instructed, making her look up. "It is time to wrap them in bandages."

She did as she was told, without question, and held her hands out. The next few minutes were spent working in a comfortable silence. He soaked a couple strips of bandages in a fresh bowl of Murtlap Essence and gently wrapped them around her hands. Two more strips of bandages, untainted by any solutions this time, were wrapped around the first ones. Under all the layers, her hands were like useless stumps.

"I want three feet of parchment on how you plan to make sure that your reckless naivety and its consequences won't happen again," Snape said coldly, cleaning up their area once he finished tending to the girl's wounds. "And when your hands have healed, you will report to me for two weeks of detentions, where you will be brewing potions to stock up the hospital wing."

"What potions will I be brewing?" she asked curiously, clumsily gathering her things.

"Antidotes to Common and Uncommon Poisons, Cure for Boils, Burn-Healing Paste, Pepper-Up, Pain Reliever, Wound Cleaning, Blood-Replenishing, Invigoration Draught, Calming Draught, and Dreamless Sleep. You will also write two feet of parchment each on Murtlap Essence and Essence of Dittany."

He watched with a smirk as she mouthed the long list in an attempt to memorize it. Frowning halfway through her silent recitation, she protested, "But our year hasn't even learned how to make half of those things, Professor! I'm going to have to spend hours in the library to prepare... It's like extending my detentions into the rest of my day!"

"For someone who always has their nose in a book when they are not incessantly waving their hand in the air to answer questions, I see no difference," Snape sneered. "Now, stop wasting any more of my time and get to class!"