It was the next day before madam Pomfrey finally released me from the hospital wing. Sirius' potion took ages to come off, but when it did, it revealed green marks on my skin where it had been. According to madam Pomfrey, it had irritated my skin, but also transferred some pigment into it, too. When I had been on the verge of having a full blown panic attack - hey, don't blame me! Nobody wants green skin for the rest of their life! - She informed me that by drinking this peachy coloured potion for a day, every hour, my skin would return to normal.

So, the morning after the incident, I was completely de-gunge and de-greenified, and was ready to go in time for breakfast. But, alas, Madam Pomfrey's fussing made me miss breakfast, and instead, I had to go straight to transfiguration with my tummy grumbling. I took my usual seat next to Cassie, who turned to me.

"What took you so long?"

"Madam Pomfrey was fussing, as usual."

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Honestly, that woman."

"At least she's a good healer." I reminded her. "We could have had a rubbish one."

"Yeah, I suppose."

But then professor Mcgonagall walked in, and we fell silent. She had this way of successfully silencing a class, without even needing to do anything. Just her mere presence commanded quiet.

"Good morning." She said briskly. "Today we will be continuing our work on transfiguring rabbits into cushions. I should hope that by the end of the lesson, we will have plenty of pretty cushions, and not many cushions with ears." Her eyes flickered over to Penny, who blushed scarlet. Transfiguration was her worst subject.

"Here are your rabbits. You may begin."

By the end of the lesson, I was feeling quite pleased with myself. My cushion was plump and squishy, with blue and green stripes. It was almost as good as Cassie's, who's was red, with little gold, glittering stars.

"You know, I do wonder, sometimes, when we're actually going to need to know how to turn a rabbit into a cushion," Penny grumbled as we made our way back to the dorms to drop of our stuff before neurobiology. "Because it's not very helpful."

"Ahh, you never know, Penny, when you'll find yourself all alone in an empty room with only a rabbit, and you need a pretty cushion." Cassie said in a mystical voice, much like professor Trelawney's, and me and her snorted, while Penny and Rose just looked confused. We don't actually have her yet, of course. We're only in the second year. But next year, I am definitely not taking divination. Me and Cassie bumped into her in first year on our way to astronomy. To me, she resembled a glittering, jangling old insect. I'd had nightmares for a week after, full of giant mutant insects who predicted your demise whenever they saw you.

ooO0Ooo

It was only after dinner when we were lounging around in the common room, that I noticed that I hadn't seen Milly all day. I felt a bit guilty about not noticing for the whole day that she was absent. We were supposed to be making an effort to be her friends.

"Cassie, have you seen Milly around today at all?"

She frowned, and her eyebrows knitted together. "No, now that I come to think of it, I haven't. I wonder where she is..."

"You don't think she's ill or something, do you?"

"I dunno. But wouldn't you have seen her in the hospital wing if she was?"

"Mm."