Remedy for Uncertainty

The room smelled of rat spleen and leech juice.

The tables, save for two on either end, were empty. The room as still and lit by a lone torch. The shadows of two boys hunched over cauldrons and textbooks danced across the stone walls.

He had looked up briefly at the blonde boy sitting across from him. The other was immersed in peeling Shrivelfig and thankfully did not notice. Arthur flushed in thought and quickly went to the cabinet and retrieved some minced daisy roots he had stored there the day before. On the way he grabbed some vials and the mortar that was lying idly on the adjacent table.

The blonde watched Arthur from his own station. He tapped his foot irritably as he did so. The brunette was preparing the caterpillars now and was visibly squirming as he held the knife up to slice them. The caterpillars managed to crawl atop his finger, causing Arthur's arm to jerk and nearly topple over his cauldron. Clarke nearly chucked the empty beaker he was fingering at the sight.

"What on earth are you doing!?"

Arthur gasped when he felt the blonde beside him.

Clarke lashed out and grabbed Arthur's wrist, wrenching the knife out of his hand.

"Your handling of the knife is atrocious. Just fucking slice them!" Clarke grabbed one large and plump caterpillar in between his thumb and index finger, pressing it down on the tabletop. Then he swiftly brought the knife down and sliced it cleanly in thirds.

"There," he growled and slammed the knife down. The vials clattered. Arthur stared down at the three sections of oozing caterpillar carcass before turning to Clarke.

"I didn't need your help, Slytherin!" Arthur spat, taking hold of the knife now.

"Really now? If not for me, you would have stood there staring until dawn!"

"Back off!

"Fine then," Clarke cooed. He stepped behind Arthur and placed his hands on either side of his shoulders. His hands squeezed and Arthur jolted. Clarke pushed him forward slightly but his hands held on. Next, Arthur felt the blonde's breath on the back of his neck then heard a raspy voice right by his ear . "Show me you can do it by yourself."

Arthur couldn't move. The hands on his shoulders suddenly felt heavy. It was an immense weight that was suffocating. His hand trembled and the knife blade shook uncontrollably, knocking on the wood of the table over and over. Arthur gulped and tried holding onto the blade with two hands in an desperate attempt to steady his grip but to no avail. He gasped as a third hand reached from behind and the whole of his back was engulfed in a warm embrace.

"I.. I don't need," Arthur gasped.

"Yeah, yeah," Clarke replied. One of the caterpillars was slowly making its way to the edge of the table before them. Clarke reached over and squeezed the caterpillar before holding the creature still. With his right hand, he guided Arthur's hands over and brought the knife straight down the middle. Arthur winced when the knife hit wood.

Chop. Chop. Chop. CHOP! THUNK!

The last stroke and the knife was on the table. Clarke briefly held onto Arthur's hand. Arthur stood there staring at the now distinguishable sections of the colorful insect.  He didn't really feel Clarke's hand covering his until the other gave it a squeeze and pulled away. Arthur quickly turned around as the other stepped backwards. The two stared at each other. The silence became so awkward that Clarke coughed.

"You're welcome, Gryffindor," Clarke said, flustered. He ducked his head down and quickly returned to the other side of his table where his cauldron was brewing. Arthur watched him go and wanted to say something but the words were lost.

He bit his lip and grabbed another caterpillar. The small creature wriggled about in his palm for a moment before he squeezed it down on the table. He gripped the knife and brought it straight down.

Chop. Chop. Chop. Chop.

Chop.

Thunk.