I'm not a kitten... Okay, I'm Kitten

Chapter 6

Boy had visited Madam Pomfrey a few times for his weekly check-ins. It didn't look good. Sure, she tried to remain positive for him, but he could see through it. She was clearly afraid of telling him that the damage was irreparable.

On a more positive note, she did give him the go-ahead to play quidditch still, so long as he wore a protective brace. It was a strange thing, looking like a very long black sock. When he slid it on for the first time, she had adjusted it a bit here and there, but when it was perfectly aligned, Boy was instructed to keep his leg absolutely still for five seconds. That done, he was amazed to find that it was immobilized as if by a cast. It also had a handful of charms woven into the strange fabric. She informed him that while there was a pain reliever in it, it could not be worn for more than three hours at a time, and only a few times per week. Aside from that, there was a charm that kept it from getting dirty or wet, even from sweat, as well as being able to blend in seamlessly with whatever trousers he was wearing.

He was fascinated by the Chameleon charm on it. Disillusion charms could only be held as long as the caster was focusing on it, whereas the Chameleon charm was imbued into the fabric. It would even mimic his skin tone (and leg hair when it grew) if he wore it with shorts. Because of all the charms, it couldn't be magicked to grow with him, so he would need to replace it with any growth spurts.

His classes were going very well also. He, Penny, Olive and Amelia were dominating the top six spots in their year. He was first, Penny was third and Olive and Amelia were holding fifth and sixth respectively. Percy Weasley was holding the number two spot, which was driving him spare.

Penny told them both (separately of course) not to worry about it.

Percy was upset at not being number one, while Boy was upset that Percy grew cold toward him over it.

He had asked Penny if he should fail an assignment and let Percy slip into first, but all three of his friends protested that fiercely. He made sure not to bring it up again.

The many times he saw Jamie throughout October, he always seemed to be alone. Because of that, he was brewing burn salves, bruise balms and he had begun keeping essence of dittany on his person at all times.

While not very educated in magic, which Boy could not understand at all, Jamie preferred to use muggle fighting as opposed to jinxes and hexes. That actually pleased Boy, because muggle fighting injuries (his leg excluded) were easier to heal than many magical injuries.

At the next quidditch match, he had taken a bludger to the ribs from one of his own teammates, and was able to get his hands on a couple doses of pain reliever when the matron's back was turned. He didn't have access to all of the ingredients for it, so he was taking the potions, which he felt bad about. Besides, even with the little bit of money that he was making doing girls' hair, all of that money was being added onto his gift certificate and spent on other potions ingredients. The pain relief potion had a few things that weren't exactly cost effective, and so he was using it all for the cheaper ingredients for the other potions.

Penny had asked him about his spending requests, but didn't push the subject when he said he just liked brewing.

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. Brewing was not necessarily his favorite activity, but he did enjoy being able to fix himself up, which was all that truly mattered.

The only nice thing about having a long lasting injury was that no one was ever surprised when he appeared to be in pain. Most of his professors were pretty understanding, but Professor Snape was irritated by the entire ordeal. That's not to say that he wasn't at least partially sympathetic, but he did make it a point to loudly ask other students to get his things from the student cupboard so that he wouldn't have to struggle through the crowds. The Ravenclaws that he shared the class with hadn't found it funny, but the Slytherins did.