Dose 30 Solo Finished

It was early in the morning, most of the students were hardly even out of bed yet, with the sun having barely rises over the Scottish hills. Yet, already dressed for the day, Illowy sat patiently on the edge of one of beds, waiting on the Nurse get her dose of the Thick Golden Potion.

Week 30, she thought to herself.

This was the 30th time she was having to take this temporary bandaid. The 30th time she had to bite back tears and cries and swallow the burning pain that coursed through her as a result of the curse that coursed through her. Over time she'd gotten better at hiding her pain, at least when she was in public. Hiding how it drained her of her energy and strength, how it stole her breath with every movement, how she wanted to cry and scream in agony... but at least they had something to make it stop, well, to make it duller. Though it would have been nice if the potion could take away the black, marbled scars that littered the skin, at least they had something for the afflicted students to take at all, else every single one of them would have been dead a long time ago.

The nurse came and handed Illowy her dosage of the potion before walking away again, leaving the girl to be alone. Eagerly the snake gulped it down. Setting the little cup aside, she propped her elbows on her knees and held her head in her hands, quietly counting backward from one hundred. It had become a coping trick she'd taught herself, having figured out that usually by the time she finished counting, the pain was dull back down to a manageable level and she could function normally once more.

"Eighty-seven...eighty-six...eighty-five..." she softly, trying not to let her voice crack under the pain. Though she knew this was a weekly requirement for any of the other Slytherin students that had been bitten and cursed, Illowy did her best to at least try to get to the nurse before anyone else, in the hopes of getting it over with quickly, and being alone for it.