Gypsy

Chapter Thirteen

I can't believe they let me go... that sentence had been running through my head for days, ever since I had fallen asleep with Malfoy and woken up in my room. The weirdest part was that nobody had noticed I was gone, not even Jenny. She hadn't raised an eyebrow when I plopped myself down at the breakfast table with her, just smiled and passed me the bacon.

I had only once risked a glance over at Malfoy and Riddle, they had both been watching me and I wasn't surprised. I knew they were just waiting for me to run and tell a professor about what they did, or tell Jenny that I now knew her brother was evil as well. But I didn't. Riddle was too smart to have not planned ahead and secured some sort of alibi; he had as much as told me so. And as for Jenny, the threat of her secret coming out was too great to involve her. I knew my best friend, if she found out that Jeremy followed 'Lord Voldemort', and then she would lose her mind in rage and probably end up blurting out her secret in defiance of Riddle. I couldn't ruin her life like that.

So I kept quiet, but I wasn't about to keep oblivious to myself now that I knew I had Nymph blood in me. I had at first considered asking Professor Potts – Herbology – or Professor Catti about Nymphs, but then decided against it. Riddle had too many of the teachers under his 'charming' powers, I couldn't risk them mentioning it around him, I had been hurt enough.

"Miss Zima!" startled I looked up, everybody in the greenhouse was staring at me, including a rather frustrated Professor Potts. "Miss Zima, if you are going to day dream in my class I would rather you choose a less important moment then when I am explaining how not to aggravate the bubotuber."

The class snickered, enjoying my putting down in one of the only classes I was good at. Ears turning red, I mumbled a quick "I'm sorry" before finally paying attention to what was in front of me. It was really quite hideous, at first one might think it was a slug but then you noticed the way it sat in the soil, vertical, and the lumps over its body. Lumps that were currently weeping thick yellow gunk, some slid down the side of the pot and onto the table in front of me.

"Now," Professor Potts drew my attention away from the tempting-to-touch slime, "the excretion coming from the sides of the bubotuber is extremely painful to touch, hence your dragon skin gloves." She slipped on her gloves, expecting us to do the same. "And what I want you to do is to carefully strip away the yellow substance using the correct equipment, this does not mean your hands, even when covered it can be quite uncomfortable to touch." It was rather interesting watching Professor Potts scoop up the liquid and correctly put it into a potion bottle before sealing it up. Several of the girls around me made typical 'icky' noises and clung to whatever unfortunate boy was next to them. "Do calm down ladies, it is a simple task and one necessary for the less... fortunate of your school mates." She smiled, "can anybody tell me what this ingredient is used for?"

I wanted to put my hand up and answer, but even in my better classes the teachers never really picked me. Having heard from other facility how 'stupid' I was, they thought it better to save me the embarrassment of an incorrect answer.

"The undiluted pus from the bubotuber isn't good for anything other than creating rather painful boils." Even Riddle answering a question in class brought back memories of him hurting me, my entire body went ridged. Apparently the idea of hurting me was quite appealing at the moment. As Riddle spoke the Slytherin witch Parkinson next to me 'subtly' slipped some of the substance directly where my wrist would probably sit when I started collecting pus. "But diluted the pus is used for those who suffer from acne; it was discovered by Sacharissa Tugwood in 1930."

"Excellent Mr Riddle, ten points to Slytherin." Professor Potts beamed at him; Riddle inclined his head and smiled. I could see the smug tilt of his lips from across the room. "Now, because this is not a partnered activity, there will be no reason to move from your assigned seats."