"Shit... Shit!"
There was a loud yawn followed by the sound of Emmeline rolling over in her bed. "Wassermaer?"
"My face!" Lily responded frantically, staring at herself in the dorm room mirror. "I've got some kind of rash on my face!"
"On your face? Are you sure it's not just spots?"
"No!" Lily cried indignantly. "It's a real rash! Oh God, it's awful! Do you think Madame Pomfrey will be able to fix it?"
"Why are you all yelling?" Cecily, another of the girls' roommates grumbled sleepily from her bed. Ethel, their fifth dorm member, was known to sleep like a rock.
"Lily's got a rash," Dorcas spoke up, rolling out of bed and shuffling lazily across the room for a better look.
"Yuk," Cecily muttered, pulling her bed sheets up to her chin as though they might protect her. "I hope it's not contagious."
Dorcas snorted as she inspected Lily's face in the early morning light from the window. "Not likely."
"You know what it is?" Lily asked hopefully.
Dorcas looked as though she were trying not to laugh. "Lil, you have pash rash."
Lily's horrified expression must have been enough and both Dorcas and Emmeline burst into hysterics.
"I don't get it," Cecily spoke up again.
"Pash rash," Dorcas repeated, still giggling. "It's when you've been snogging a boy for so long that you actually chafe the skin around your mouth."
"Oh, gross!" Cecily cried, clearly disgusted. Dorcas and Emmeline laughed louder.
"Oh shut up, you two," Lily muttered, frowning at her reflection. "What am I going to do about it?"
After a rather embarrassing visit to the hospital wing Lily scurried to Transfiguration as fast as she could, having spent far longer than necessary being interrogated by Madame Pomfrey. Lily had feigned innocence at first pretending she hadn't a clue what the rash could be from but apparently Madame Pomfrey couldn't treat her unless she knew the cause of the problem. Lily had a sneaky suspicion the woman had known all along but was trying to teach her some sort of lesson by embarrassing her. Unfortunately Lily knew she'd probably end up needing another cure before long and made a mental note to visit the library that day and find the formula for that particular potion.
Thankfully she was not faced with another interrogation by Professor McGonagall as she arrived late to the class and was merely fixed with a disapproving stare as she quietly slid into her usual seat beside John. He gave her questioning look but she shook her head and he returned to writing notes. Sensing the Professor's eyes on her again she quickly flashed another apologetic look before rustling through her book bag for a scroll of parchment to do the same. Had she forgotten to pack some? A quill caught her eye and she quickly grabbed it, storing it between her teeth before it was lost to the never ending depths of her book bag as her parchment had appeared to have done.
She turned desperately to John. He shrugged apologetically knowing what she was after, mouthing the words my last piece.
"Are you quite ready, Miss Evans?"
Lily looked up suddenly and felt herself blush as she realised Professor McGonagall as well as half the class were watching her and hearing her scuffle about looking for parchment as they tried to continue the lecture.
"Sorry," she muttered sheepishly, hastily removing her quill from her mouth and dropping her bag to the floor, hoping she'd be able to copy from someone else's notes at lunch. The Professor resumed her lesson with a notable eye roll and Lily tried to shrink down in her seat not wanting to attract any more attention.
