The Curse of Swan Lake

Chapter Five

I turned my head left. Then right. I eyed myself in the mirror, skeptically inspecting every single hair and freckle.
I didn't really...look different, did I?

I cocked my head again.
My eyes look different, I thought suddenly. They're...fuller.
As if that made any sense.

Filled with light.

My brown eyes were no longer a pale brown with a few golden dots here and there. The irises had darkened to a rich dark brown color, reminding me of hot chocolate. And in both of my eyes were more of these golden flecks that glinted slightly.

But the weirdest change was that my cold had disappeared. Gone were the fever and the headache, gone was my stuffy nose and my pale complexion. I was brimming with health and I looked better than ever.

No one will notice my eyes. Everyone is too busy nowadays to keep track of other people's eye color.

But you always think about Professor Snape's eyes, a little voice reminded me haughtily.

True. His black, deep eyes haunted me in my sleep and even during the day when my thoughts were drifting off. However, since I knew that Professor Snape did not have any feelings for me, I doubted he spent as much time thinking about my eyes as I did about his.

And besides, it's not that big of a deal.

I had spent the entire day yesterday (which was the 26th of December) in my room, pretending to still be sick. It would be really weird if I was cured overnight of my cold, so I decided it was best to wait a day.
It wasn't as if I had been bored. I had the best reading material ever, after all. Professor Snape's book was so awesome, I finished reading it after four hours straight. He explained the way ingredients reacted together, not just by stating the typical appearances of a potion, such as color, fumes, bubbles, et cetera, but also by describing what happened on a molecular level.
Seriously, the Wizarding World needed to get chemistry into the students' lesson plan because I never actually realized how important it was to correctly adjust the ph-value of your potion. For instance, how come not a single potions book in Hogwarts' library mentioned that Lionweed only worked as a medicinal plant at a ph-value over 8? Once the potion got acidic, the plant became useless.

I shook my head to gather my thoughts and focused on getting dressed.
Buttoning the blouse of my school uniform, I whistled the tune of 'Oh holy night' and then grabbed my bag to head out of the door. That song seemed to have become my favorite for now.
As I walked down the corridor, I thought about the night I gave Professor Snape a feather.

Why did I even do that?

I remembered seeing- or actually sensing Professor Snape's presence in the shadows. There was something dark and dangerous about him, as if he was...someone else. But at the same time, I could feel something about him that made me believe he needed help. I wasn't sure what kind of help yet.
But I then decided rather spontaneously to show Professor Snape that I had plenty of my light to give. And that he could have some whenever he needed it.

By the time I reached the potions classroom, I had practiced my neutral-slightly-sick face and was determined to act as if I had just gotten over my cold. I pushed the door open and found Professor Snape already brewing. Judging by the purple smoke billowing out of the cauldron, it was the Draught of Living Death.

"Miss Granger", said Professor Snape curtly, his eyes fixed on the cauldron. "Get a copper stirring rod and come over here."

I did as he asked and walked up beside him, peering into the purple liquid. Bubbles popped at the surface, releasing the fumes into the air. "The Wormwood and Asphodel have already been added", said Professor Snape, handing me  a small bean. He took the copper stirring rod from me and pulled the golden one he had used until now out of the potion.