She wakes up an hour or two later in an infirmary bed, which isn't completely unfamiliar to her after playing quidditch for the past five years. The first thing she becomes aware of is the ache in her wrist. And her sinuses are burning.
"Fuck," she curses, because her throat feels like someone scrubbed it raw and then poured acid down it. It's probably not the best thing to do since when she opens her eyes Madame Pomfrey greets her. She's dimly aware of Ethan and Sebastian laughing just behind them.
"Well, hello, dear," Pomfrey says, and Hope winces as the pain fully sets in. "Drink this, you'll feel better."
Hope eyes the disgusting looking liquid in the vial she's holding out, before taking it hesitantly. She opens the stopper and nearly throws up at the smell.
"Maybe later," she says, trying to hold back her trademark sneer, and puts it on top of her bedside table.
Pomfrey mutters something about "stubborn Slytherins" before standing up from the chair she was sitting on before. Hope inquires as to what happened, and the matron slowly informs her.
"Most of the damage was done to your wrist since you were wearing gloves. However, we weren't able to magically heal any of it due to the essence of Fanged Geranium poison. Attempting to would-in all probability-propel you into a coma, or even kill you. We were able to administer the antidote fast enough, but the poison will most likely stay in your system for another few days, and we cannot pursue any concrete remedy until then. The plant also managed to tear into the major radial artery of your wrist, and you suffered profound blood loss."
Hope takes the time to finally look at her arm, which is extensively bandaged from her wrist to her palm. Her skin is too sensitive under it, and the magic in her blood is centering entirely in her arm. For the first time, it makes her feel uncomfortable.
"When can I leave?"
"Leave?!" Pomfrey voices in exasperation. "I have half the mind to keep you here for the rest of the week."
"I feel fine," she growls out, already sitting up and trying to be released from the confines of the white sheets.
"Right," Sebastian drawls from behind Pomfrey. "That explains why you're in the hospital wing."
"Shut up, Pyre," she says through clenched teeth, having the sudden instinct to reach for her wand. She finds her book bag in Ethan's grip.
"Make me, Mikaelson," he leans forward too, his eyes alight in glee, but Ethan slaps a hand on his shoulder and pulls him back. Usually, she keeps her wand up her sleeve, but she had elected to put it away for the Herbology lesson.
"Ethan, hand me my wand so I can shove it up his ass-"
"Quiet! Quiet! I will not have childish banter in my hospital wing!" Pomfrey hushes them, and then sends Sebastian away. He sneers and makes a rude gesture behind her back, and then waves goodbye to Hope.
"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey-" She starts, spite in her voice because she knows that Sebastian can still hear them, but the strict matron whirls on her as well.
"And you! You will stay here until I permit you to leave!" Hope sighs, leaning back into her bed in false defeat. She knows she'll get her way sooner or later. "And you will take that draught or so help me Merlin-"
"Poppy, give the girl a break," a lazy voice utters from the door, and the Slytherin looks to see Professor Snape and his robes billowing behind him. Pomfrey stands up again and meets him halfway, and they talk in low, hushed whispers for several minutes.
"What did I miss?" she asks Ethan the second the adults had decided to ignore the both of them.
"Lunch, for starters," he tells her. "Rose and Penelope also visited you, but you were asleep and they had to go to class. Pyre and I have been with you since Sprout levitated your ass from the greenhouse to here."
She cringes in humiliation, and Ethan takes the time to hand her her bag and wand. She takes them both with her right hand, and in her distraction she fails to notice him unstopping the forgotten draught by her bed.
In a single sudden motion, he rushes her, his left hand coming around to lay flat against her face as he tries to force her mouth open, and his other hand holding the vial of liquid up. She fights against him, despite her current disability, and they struggle against each other for a couple of long seconds. Pomfrey and Snape barely glance at them, only continuing their discussion.
"C'mon, H, open up," he says, and in that single moment he gains the advantage and vile, putrid fluid tumbles down her mouth. She chokes on it, and even after the repulsive taste has left her throat, she coughs.
"I'm going to kill you," she deadpans, scorn stretching the corners of her lips.
"You feel better, no?" He smiles, and she feels like punching him. But it's true. Seconds after taking it, she is already feeling the draught's effects, and relief floods her like a cool balm against her arm.
"Don't expect an invitation to my family's annual ball this coming Christmas," she says instead of expressing any sort of gratitude, and he laughs loudly. The sound attracts the adults in the room, and Snape and Pomfrey turn to them simultaneously.
"Mister Machado, may I ask why you are not currently attending my class?" Snape questions, with a deceiving note of curiosity. Hope wonders what time it actually is. Had DADA actually already started?
"S-sir," Ethan stutters pathetically, but manages to collect himself quickly. "I'm sure you can understand my unwavering concern in my best friend."
"Yes, as I'm sure you can understand what happens to the students I catch ditching my class," Snape easily replies, and Ethan leaves in a panic, throwing a peace sign at Hope swiftly. Typically, students caught ditching were given a week of detention with Snape.
"As for you-" Snape strides the few short paces to her bed. "-imagine my surprise, when I discovered my star pupil was bested by a mere plant."
Snape and her have always had a connection. She's sure his relationship with her father is part of that, but she's always been a favorite.
"Yes, it is terribly humiliating," she agrees. "Sign me out?"
"I don't know," Snape contemplates. "I'm rather content to let you scour in shame for a couple of days."
"I have a quidditch game Saturday morning," she grits out, to the amusement of Snape, who chuckles with no smile. It's weird to hear, and even weirder to see.
"Madame Pomfrey says you're in no state to play-"
"I'm the captain!" she argues, cutting him off. She throws out her hands in anger and immediately regrets it as the motion hurts her. "And besides, Madame Pomfrey doesn't know shit-"
"Uh uh," he tuts. "Profanity is not indicative of an extensive vocabulary."
"Whatever," she seethes, already imagining the way she'll have to explain this to her team. They had been so excited during their morning practice, almost vibrating with energy as they discussed their game that would occur in three day's time. She sits up with renewed vigor. "You can't do this to me! We don't have a replacement seeker! You'll be dooming us to lose, to Hufflepuff no less!"
"Oh, stop your whining," he grumbles finally, and Hope realizes that he was always going to let her go, and he just wanted to torture her first. "Poppy has agreed to let me sign you out, on the condition that you remember to take your medicine daily. You'll also have to come back in a few days so she can take out your stitches and re-wrap your hand. The current bandage has a spell on it, so it should remain clean and sanitary. If you do anything to injure it again, I will ensure your stay in here for a whole month. Do you understand me?"
She only nods, using her right hand to move the sheets she's buried in.
"Alright," he says, pulling himself up as well. "Do you feel well enough to accompany me to class? Or shall I walk you to your room?"
She decides to just join him in DADA, since she's been dramatic enough for one day. She can't afford to look weak any longer. She can already imagine how fast news of what's happened has swept the school, and her cheeks pink with the mere thought of it.
He informs her that they're about an hour into DADA, and that he's left the class to the supervision of his TA, Ryan Clarke. Hope had never seen him in that class before, which is slightly odd but it's more likely due to the fact that she wasn't paying attention.
So, they walk into the classroom together, an hour late, and it's no wonder when all the students turn in their seats to look at them. She walks into the room, and they all quiet down in unison, and a hush breaks across the room as Snape follows her in.
She most immediately catches Rose and Penelope's eyes, and she nods at them before her own gaze snaps somewhere else. She finds Josette looking right back at her, her eyes glancing to her bandaged wrist. It feels more heavily suddenly, and Hope feels an awful panic to look literally anywhere else. The moment passes and she quickly makes her way to her seat. Josette isn't sitting in the usual seat next to her, but with her own friends and sister on the other side of room. It is swiftly made clear that the class took the opportunity of Snape's absence to change seats to fit their own preferences.
Professor Snape himself moves to stand at the front of the room.
"It appears that Mister Clarke has permitted you all to work in your preferred pairs, but now that I'm here, please move back to the seats I previously chose for you."
Some students mutter underneath their breaths, and the shifting of chairs momentarily sounds across the room before everyone goes back to their own seats.
Josette sits down next to her with an exaggerated huff, and Hope's heart convulses. She sighs quietly and resists the urge to wring her hands together. Hating muggles and muggleborns had been so much easier before the summer. It had been so much easier last year, when she could remain ignorant and clueless. But then summer had happened, and it had become so much harder to pretend.
"Now, I trust that you have all been practicing the task given to you by my TA?"
The few students that like Snape in the classroom nod.
"Good. Visualizing your happiest memory is essential to this process-and I would even say the most important part to producing a corporeal patronus. Please take the next couple of minutes to remember this memory and keep it active in your mind."
The class grows silent once more, and when Hope glances over she sees that mostly everyone has their eyes shut. She almost laughs, and she wonders how much she really missed during her short stay in the hospital wing. It's obvious that no one but her is confused by Snape's words.
But she doesn't feel safe enough to close her eyes, and stares hard at her desk as she tries to remember a time where she was happy. She becomes frustrated fast when such an instance doesn't appear immediately. Her family pops into her head, like a bubble, but the bubble is blurry and within seconds it has popped. She drums the fingers of her right hand in annoyance on the table. Her left hand stays limp in her lap.
"It's hard to concentrate with you brooding so close to me." The words are whispered from her side, barely carried by the slight breeze in the classroom, and she dimly thinks that she almost imagined them. She looks over and finds Josette with her eyes still closed, but she's sure by the smirk on the muggleborn's face that the words had been hers.
"My apologies," she bites out sarcastically, not missing the way Josette is still wearing her fucking robe. She should insult her, throw it in her face, embarrass the hell out of her, but she can't find anything else to say and closes her mouth.
The rest of the room has begun whispering as well, and Maya Machado in front of Hope takes the chance to turn around.
"What happened to you?" she asks, but Hope hears more interest than concern in her voice. Maya's partner Emma turns back to glance at them briefly with suspicion. Hope rolls her eyes.
"A stupid fucking plant," she answers, not even bothering to whisper because-weirdly-half the class is yelling at this point. What's even weirder, is that Snape hasn't bothered to tell them to shut up yet.
"Aww, poor baby," Maya coos, and Hope wants to beat the crap out of her. "Want me to kiss it better?"
"You can kiss my ass," she says, instead of reaching over the table and hitting her, and Maya turns back to her partner, but not before another attempt at playful flirting.
"Kinky," the girl laughs out.
When Hope turns back to her own partner, Josette's cheeks are burning and her eyes are no longer closed.