ELIXIR: A Harry Potter Fan Fiction

Twenty Seven. Wolfsbane.

"Marlowe?" she said again. "Can I come in? Just for a minute?"

He began to push himself to seated, knowing she was going to come in regardless, but he kept his mouth shut. She opened the door just enough to slip through. It was the first time he had seen her that day. He had been avoiding the great hall and, when he had met with the headmaster a few days before to discuss the details of his full moon accommodations, he had tried to get out of going to class too, but Professor Osset had insisted he go anyhow.

He felt awful, exhausted and worn down, a little feverish even. This time was worse than the first, because he knew what was coming, and because, with less to wonder about, he was more acutely aware of his own body's changing nature. He felt like a different person.

Caiti looked very pretty, with her hair tied half back as usual. He saw the blue ribbon as she turned to shut the door. Her cheeks were a little flushed and her eyes a little glassy. And then he saw what she was holding. Though he could not see inside yet, the contents of the goblet in her hand were unmistakeable. Thin, white smoke curled over the edges, dissipating before it reached very far from the rim of the cup.

Marlowe's insides boiled with shame. He felt hot all of the sudden, though the room was dark and drafty. He looked away from her.

"Sorry," she said very quietly. "I know you want to be alone and stuff... I just wanted to bring this for you." She took a few tentative steps towards him and set the goblet down on his bedside table. It made a dull clunk against the wood surface. She stepped back and added, "I made it."

Marlowe sat up a little straighter though his gaze remained directed firmly at his bedcover. "You made it?" he asked in a low voice. His tone was more spiteful than he had anticipated, but he found he did not regret it.

Caiti seemed to have caught the undertone too, because when she spoke again, she sounded nervous, scared even. Scared of him, probably. He bit down hard. "It's really difficult," she said. "But I've been working on it for months. Since before Christmas. And... and I practiced every day when you were gone, and now I can do it. I promise it's safe. It's perfect. I made sure. And-"

"I thought Professor Pym was going to make it," Marlowe interrupted.

Caiti hesitated. She took another step back. "She was," she said. "But we'd been practicing... she was helping me learn. Like I said, it was before Christmas... we didn't know... but then I thought, since I'd been learning it anyway, I could just... make it for you." 

Marlowe finally looked up at her and he felt oddly satisfied when he saw how wide her eyes had gone, how lined her forehead. "I just wanted a way to say thank you," she finished. Her voice went very quiet again.

Marlowe glared at her. He was not sure why he felt so aggressive towards her all the sudden, but it felt good to have someone to be angry at. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense that Caiti should be the receiver of all the crap he was feeling. It was because of her, after all, that he had landed in this situation at all.

"I can leave you alone if you want..." she said. Her round face suddenly looked very childlike, naive.

"No," said Marlowe. "You wanted to talk about it, right? So let's talk about it. Why not. What've you got to say?"

Caiti blinked a few times and her lips parted. Very slowly, she slid her arms across her belly to hug herself. She clutched her sides and though she remained standing up straight with her shoulders back, she tucked her chin down and looked slouched anyway, vulnerable.

"I don't know," she said finally. "I- I just wanted to tell you thank you. I just- you saved my life." She sucked in her lower lip for a second. "I don't know what to say."