Brilliance is Corruptable

Chapter Three

      Potions class was always pleasant, the silence a of full classroom- of course most were just afraid to suffer Snape’s abuse if they spoke- and the often pleasant smell of properly made potions simmering… Then again, this was a classroom, and some potions were prone to failure.

Briar recoiled at the putrid smell emitting from her table partner’s cauldron, which so happened to be George Weasley- their seating plan was in alphabetical order by surname, she would never sit next to a trouble-maker in class willingly.

“What did you put in there? It reeks!” Briar gagged, pinching her nose. George shrugged, “The ingredients on the board, word for word, I swear.”

She peered into the overflowing cauldron, backing off immediately when the solution spit at her. “Did you measure them out at all?”

George shrugged carelessly, dipping a ladle into the bat, and stirring it. “No, why would I waste my time measuring them out? - time is money after all.” He tossed her a cheeky grin, pulling out the ladle- or rather the handle, seeing as the spoon part had been melted off.

Briar backed away cautiously, “I don’t think that’s safe for consumption, Weasley. It says in the textbook that the finishing mixture is supposed to be a pleasant yellow… not a-“ she peeked into his cauldron once more, drawing back in disgust, “-…a murky sludge.”

“I think it’s perfectly well-done, Georgie.” Fred peered over his brother’s shoulder, “Mine is the exact same as you can see.”

Fred held out a vialed cloudy mixture, it was hissing, splattering everywhere. Briar grimaced, covering her potion safely with the lid.

George was examining Fred’s potion, “Naw, mate. Yours is a bit more purple-ish than mine; Briar what do you think?”

She turned back once more, gasping, “Fred you’re not supposed to cap it-.” When she stretched out to take the cork out of it, the glass vial shattered, covering her sleeved arm in the solution.

Briar yowled, jerking her arm back to cradle against her chest- her sleeve had melted away- burning her arm and turning the pale flesh into a rotting grey.

Snape, who had been attracted by the sudden noise drifted over, his beady black eyes falling on Briar’s arm immediately. He sighed, almost impatiently, “Weasley, take Miss. York to the infirmary. And you, the other Weasley, I specifically said ‘Do not cork the mixture,’ how much idiocy does it take to forget one simple instruction-…”

Snape’s antagonizing voice faded away as George escorted Briar from the classroom and down to the infirmary. Briar grumbled obscenely, clutching her arm just in case the bone rotted through and fell off.

“Sorry about that,” George apologized, “But if it does fall off you’ll have a free backscratcher.”

Briar clung to her arm a bit tighter, “That doesn’t make me feel much better, you know.”

In the infirmary Madam Pomfrey was having a field day- apparently a group of Sixth Years had tried to visit Hogsmeade and were caught by the Dementors. So when George had brought Briar through the doors, Madam Promfrey swooped over them in an instant- settling Briar on a cot and shooing George back to class.

“Honestly,” Madam Pomfrey grumbled over the Six Years groans of fear, “I’ve been busy enough with these miscreants, and all I need now is another paitent…”

Briar’s brow twitched, conveying her dishonesty, “Sorry, Madam. It was an accident in Potions.”

Madam Pomfrey gave an irritated huff, rubbing some sort of yellow, ill-smelling paste on her arms, “Just sit there and let the paste do its work, in a minute or two your arm will be fresh as spring daisy.” And with that Madam Pomfrey whisked off to shove more chocolate into the mouths of her other patients. 

When she was cleared by Madam Pomfrey, Briar headed back up to the Potion’s Room to gather her books- only to stumble upon a one-sided argument between Snape and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

“-You’re a danger once in every twenty-eight days-!“

Snape abruptly fell silent- swiveling to face her as the door swung shut behind her. Briar cleared her throat awkwardly, “Sorry, Professors, I was just collecting my books…”

Snape turned his glaring beady eyes away, striding from the room, his black robes billowing after him. Briar swallowed nervously- obviously her presence had just iced the cake for a pissed off Snape. Lupin bowed his head at her, smiling mildly, “Good evening, Miss. York.”

 “Professor,” she acknowledged, her lips twitching into something similar to a smile. Lupin ducked out of the classroom after Snape, leaving Briar all alone in the classroom. Briar’s eyes twitched back to the desk where the two colleagues had been fighting, and fell on a single open book, propped up against a steaming cauldron. Her curiosity is what forced her legs to move towards the desk. Her eyes fell on the first line of the book, and she drew back almost immediately as she put two and two together…

Wolfsbane… Twenty-eight days...

Her jaw twitched as she restrained a yell of horror- quickly she gathered her things, and fleeing from the room. She was intent on confirming her fears- even if she had to resort to that.

I do not own Harry Potter/characters/etc.

-AL