Second and Third Years- Lesson 3- Term 4

[Desideria Tapia]

Droopy eyes were setting in, and Desideria was about ready to find a pair of toothpicks to make her eyes wide and stay open. Lack of sleep over the break due to having the need to brew dragon pox relieving potions and lotions for those itchy scabs was cutting into her personal time. The potion she'd been working on for months she was afraid would have to be thrown away and restarted from scratch because it'd been placed on the backburner for so long now. Weeks upon weeks (alright, so not really that long), but the woman was afraid all her hard work was now just a waste. That was the one problem of having others rely on you, some of your things needed to be put away, no matter how personally important, but the students well-being was more important to her than anything else.

Head barely staying up, Desideria tried not to nod off while she awaited her students entrance into the room, still the same old style with tables that sat four per each.

Today's lesson spawned from the bout of healing potions they'd gone over before break. A protective potion that would keep them safe from harm in many cases, but of course, not all.

On the board behind the woman was written:

Second and Third Years
Fire Protection Potion
D. Tapia

[Claire Desrosiers]

Claire did not really care so much that she was the first one to enter the classroom but it was a miracle that the girl managed to get out of bed at all. The rash that started developing around the holidays had only gotten worse as well as her cough. It all didn't seem that bad at first but now that it felt like hell just to walk around there was a problem. Yea, by now the second year realized that she might have dragon pox but for some reason did not go to the hospital wing for treatment. Actually she took a quick peak in one day only to find the nurse was not there.

As the Slytherin came into the room she barely acknowledged the professor's presence and just threw her bag on a random table and put her head down on it. If the girl was healthy her attitude would be much different since this was one of her best classes. Unfortunatly there was no such thing as an enthusiatic Claire right now.

[Jeremy Taylor]

Jeremy itched all over and despite the assurances from the nurse that he had not contracted Dragon Pox again, the small second year was positive that it was just in an invisible sort of stage and surely he would be dead by morning. He didn't bother telling his parents about this strange and rare strand he had personally discovered, not wanting to worry them with putting together funeral arrangements before it was absolutely necessary.

Entering the classroom and seeing Professor Tapia made him forget his inevitable demise for the time being and he broke out into a rare smile, only to bite his lip and frown again once he saw the board. It wasn't that he thought he couldn't make the potion, but it reminded him that one of the symptoms of Dragon Pox was fire breathing. He scratched at his back absentmindedly as he took a seat, barely noticing the Slytherin girl already in the room.

[Brenton Douglas]

Strutting down the corridor, Brenton made his way to Potions, disappointed that once more Claire eluded him. He wanted to walk to class with her sometime, but whenever he went looking for her she was either nowhere to be found or he realized he had homework he needed to complete before going to the class. It was disappointing and depressing, but it was his goal to walk to class with her at least once before the term was over and they were back on the train going to London.

Taking his usual seat next to Jeremy, Brenton gave a pursed smile to Claire before turning to Jeremy with a different smile, one not so much made for Claire. "Hiya, how're ya?"

His friend looked a bit uncomfortable, but Brent didn't take much notice of it, after all, as a Prince he had too many other things on his mind. Such as the upcoming ball he'd heard about, for Valentine's Day.

[Jeremy Taylor]

"I'm fine..." Jeremy answered in a sad, slow moan that was reminiscent of Eeyore the donkey. It was his pathetic attempt to be brave and not let on that he was actually dying. Why should he burden his best friend with his silly little problems?

As he contemplated his inevitable death and the unselfish sacrifices he made to keep it to himself, he suddenly remembered something else he actually had wanted to share with Brenton.

"Hey, look what I got!" he said suddenly, perking up as he leaned over and dug into his backpack. He produced a package of what looked like small plastic animals, but as soon as he dumped them on the desk, the small toys shook themselves awake and started wandering around the table top. Jeremy made a quick corral out of his books before they got in trouble and looked towards the Slytherin. Jeremy hoped the other boy didn't think they were babyish because he thought they were kind of funny. "My mom sent them to me. I thought maybe I'd give the cat to Hannah." That worked. If Brenton thought they were stupid, Jeremy could play it off like he was just going to give them away.

[Carys Abendroth]

Carys entered the class, like she had the previous times before. The dark circles under her eyes were evidence of her lack of sleep. The whole dragon pox epidemic had rattled her to the core. She was terrified of catching the dreaded disease, but realized how unrealistic that desire was. Her classmates had come down with the sickness, and she had shared potion supplies and breathing air with them since the outbreak. It was only a matter of time until her luck ran out. Carys just hoped that it wasn't today!

Carys headed to find a seat. As she passed a piece of parchment had fluttered out of her backpack. It landed near Claire's seat. As the second year Gryffindor bent to pick up the parchment, her hand accidentally grazed the arm of the girl. It wasn't until she took a good look at Claire that Carys saw the girl's head was down on the table. Was she infected? Carys couldn't see any noticeable rash, but the girl looked awful. "Sorry." was all Carys could muster, as her stomach rose to about halfway in her throat. The Gryffindor moved to an empty table and shakily took a seat. Could she contract the pox with just the slightest contact? The girl looked at her hands, resisting the psychological urge to scratch all her skin raw. It was all in her head. She had nothing to worry about. Carys had so far been unaffected during this epidemic. Why should a slight misshap cause any of that to change?

[Devin Baines]

Devin sighed as she entered the Potions classroom. One of her favorite classes was now a chore. The stuffy air of the Dungeons was only enhanced by the fumes from the potions made throughout the day, and it gave her a bigger headache than she already had. It had been like this for a few days now. Potions weren’t doing anything. She just hoped it wasn’t something, but the cough she had said it might be. Devin had gone to class through worse colds, though, and this would not stop her either. Hopefully, she would at least get some coherent notes down. If not, she could always take a look at someone else’s.

A glance at the front of the room revealed what they were making today. The Fire Protection Potion Professor Tapia had put on the board sounded interesting. With all the fires going in the Dungeons, she could imagine this being fairly handy.

With a deep breath, she walked forward and took a seat next to a Gryffindor who was probably a year younger than her. Devin sat down with a dull thump, gave a wan smile at the girl next to her, and began to pull out her quill and parchment to take notes. The Gryffindor seemed about as healthy as Devin, and hopefully the two girls could work out a decent potion.