The teachers' dormitories were in a rear, corner turret of the castle, far away from each of the house dormitories. Each was equipped with secret passages that led to their private offices and their assigned house common rooms. Each teacher had a separate bedroom, with a common room much in the style of the house common rooms, but even more comfortably furnished, and fully stocked with food and drink choices. Each room had its own bathroom, the size of which rivaled the Prefects bathrooms, each with its own large bathtub. Odessa felt like she'd made it big to come here after over-paying rent in a small flat in Cheapside, but nothing prepared her for the warmth she felt when she opened the door and found her trunks already arrived. "House Elves," she said with a smile, "You can free them, but you can't take the servant out of them." She wondered if the head of the Ministry Department of S.P.E.W., Hermione Weasley, realized how hard it is to free someone that doesn't want to be freed.

Odessa hung up her robes in a large, walk-in closet, and magically arranged her books on a shelf above her bed, realizing that the majority of her summer would be dedicated to writing new curriculum. As good as Odessa was with Potions as a young witch in training, and as much as she enjoyed potion making, she remembered that her classes when she was a student at Hogwarts were beyond boring, and she wanted to make them more interesting.

She was just going over some thoughts about fun activities she'd have the students do when there was a knock at her bedroom door. "Come in!"

Much to Odessa's surprise, Professor O'Reilly walked in. "Pro-professor! What are…I mean, um, hello. It's good to see you."

"Miss Grace," Professor O'Reilly said, walking in. I see you've already started to unpack."

"Yes sir. Professor McGonagall told me you left a few days ago. Did you forget something?"

"No. I just wanted to see how you liked your new quarters."

"They're lovely, thank you. Um, is that all?"

O'Reilly meandered over to the couch and sat down, "Come Odessa, let's have a talk."

"A talk?"

"Yes, a talk. As I remember, you only received an E on my final exam."

Bristling with anger Odessa responded, "But I received an O on my NEWTs."

"So you did. I always wondered about that."

"Just what are you implying sir."

O'Reilly gave her a grim smile, "I was always under the impression that you flirted your way to that O. Who did you have to charm? You are very charming, of course. Not a trait usually seen in a Ravenclaw. But you could never charm me, you know."

Odessa was about to respond when another knock sounded at her door.

"Come in." She said angrily.

Sirius walked through the door. "Odess- Professor O'Reilly, what are you doing here?"

"Giving a few tips to our latest Potions master. And what are you doing here?"

"I just came to…to make sure Odessa found her room okay." Sirius glanced at her. "Obviously she has." He added wryly.

"Obviously," O'Reilly said. "I'll be watching your work Odessa. I may be retiring, but I still care about the students. I'll see you around." He nodded at Sirius and walked out the door.

"What was that creep doing here?" Sirius demanded and then held up his hand. "Wait, never mind. I don't want to know. Good night Odessa." Sirius stalked out of the room before Odessa could say a word.

"I hope Hastings evening is going better than mine," she said as she sank into a chair.

Hastings evening was, in fact, going along quite well. She'd gotten a new job, a new place to live, and a date on the same night. And not just any date—a date with someone she'd been in love with for several years. Or at least liked fairly seriously. She enjoyed her time with Falcon, dancing and meeting old schoolmates, and talking their heads off. She remembered Falcon to be shy and quiet, but she supposed that was only because she was so bashful when she was around him in the past. Now that she'd decided to get to know him better, he was more than willing to talk with her.

Around eleven, many of the reunion-goers began to disperse, and Falcon said, "May I escort you to your dormitory?"

Hastings almost giggled at his question, feeling like a teenager. "Sure," said Hastings, with a flutter in her stomach. They said their goodnights to everyone, and headed out the door into the foyer. It happened almost before Hastings realized it. She watched as Professor O'Reilly came from the teachers' dormitories, walking down the stairs. He to miss the vanishing step, tenth up from the bottom, and ended up falling the rest of the way.

Letting go of her hand, the Medi-Wizard in Falcon took over. He rushed to where Professor O'Reilly lay on the marble floor, clutching his ankle, and cursing under his breath. "Professor, are you all right?" asked Falcon, bending down to assist him.

"Leave me be, Puddinghaste," said O'Reilly with understandable frustration. He looked up and said, "Oh, you're the new school nurse, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir," said Falcon. "Can I help you?"

"I broke my ankle, what do you think?" said O'Reilly. "I remember you were one of the ones laughing at the teachers when they tripped on that particular step."

"Oh, well," said Falcon, trying to sound light-hearted. "That was years ago, sir. I promise I'm not laughing at you now. Why, only last week, I myself tripped—"

"Stop your incessant chatter, boy, I'm twice your age," said Professor O'Reilly. "Are you going to help me to the hospital wing and mend me or not?"

"Oh, yes, sir," said Falcon. He helped the man up and gave Hastings and apologetic look.

Smiling back at him, she said, "I'll see you later," and walked toward the teachers dormitories as Falcon helped Professor O'Reilly to the hospital wing.

"So much for my romantic walk home," said Hastings, walking up the many flights of stairs to the teachers' dormitories. Once there, she was happy to see a large fire burning in the grate, and Odessa in a dressing gown, curled up on a sofa reading a book. "Couldn't go to sleep yet?" she asked.

"I wanted to wait for you to get back. Did he kiss you?"

"I can't believe you would ask that," said Hastings, trying to sound indignant.

"Oh, shut up, you'd ask me the same thing," said Odessa. "Now, did he kiss you or not?"

Hastings plopped down on the sofa next to her friend with a tragic sigh. "No, he had to escort that git O'Reilly to the hospital wing."

"What?" asked Odessa. "He was here just a while ago, to ask me how I liked my new quarters. Though, it sounded more like the Spanish Inquisition. What happened to him?"

"He tripped going down the stairs and broke his ankle," said Hastings, using her wand to magically remove her nail polish.

"Pity he didn't break something else," said Odessa, "Like his head. Can you believe that foul little man thought I cheated on my NEWTs? Of all the nerve."

Hastings chuckled, "Don't worry about him. He's not teaching here anymore, remember?"

"And we are," said Odessa. "Can you believe we'll never have to sit in our cubicles at the ministry again? It's like a dream come true. Of course, you've been a teacher here before. You must be totally excited."

"I am," said Hastings. They sat for a half hour longer, and then got up to go to their rooms to sleep. As they began to walk up the stairs, they heard the door open. Looking around, they saw Falcon walk in, yawning.

"I'm just going to go to bed," said Odessa. "I want details!" she whispered, and ran the rest of the way up.

"Hey," Hastings said, trying to sound nonchalant. "How's O'Reilly?"

Falcon shrugged, "He'll live. Hurt his pride more than anything else. Creepy guy though."

"Yeah, Odessa was just telling me that he was accusing her of cheating on her NEWTs."

"You can't cheat on your NEWTs." Falcon said, surprised. "How did he say she accomplished it?"

"Don't know. Odessa didn't say. I hope he doesn't come back."

"Me too," Falcon said.

Hastings started fiddling with her wand, unsure of what to say next.

"Um…" Falcon said.

"Thank you for taking me to the dance, I had a lot of fun." Hastings said quickly.

"Oh, you're welcome. I did too." Falcon made a move towards her and Hastings felt her heart beat faster.

"Er, I'm glad we'll both be teaching here," Hastings blurted out.

Falcon stopped, "Yeah, it should be fun… Well I should get to bed."

"Me too," Hastings said, berating herself for saying something.

"Good night then." Falcon looked unsure of what to do, so he stuck out his hand.

Surprised, Hastings shook it, "'Til tomorrow." Falcon nodded and left. Hastings sat down on the couch and buried her head in her hands.

"It wasn't that bad," a voice said from the stairway.

Hastings head jerked up, "You were listening?"

Odessa shrugged, "Only for a minute. I wanted to see if he had left and you had stayed down here in a cloud of happiness forgetting that I was waiting impatiently upstairs."

"He shook my hand!" Hastings wailed. "I can't believe that's all he did."

Odessa tried to suppress a giggle but was unsuccessful.

"Don't laugh at me! I'm so embarrassed. He was coming towards me like he was going to at least hug me and I had to open my big mouth!"

Odessa just laughed harder.

"Shut up!" Hastings threw a pillow at her. Odessa ducked and grabbed another pillow to throw back at her. In a few minutes pillows were flying back and forth across the room as the girls ran and ducked, trying to get the other. After awhile they sank onto the couch, laughing and trying to catch their breath.

"Thanks Odessa, I feel better."

"Good."

"And…it is rather funny that he shook my hand."

Odessa grinned, "Just think, one day, when you're married, you can talk about your first handshake."

"Oh, shut up you nit. I'm going to bed."

"Me too. Night Hastings."

"Night." Tired, both girls made their way to their rooms.

"So, what happened?" Sirius asked Falcon as he walked in the door of the men's common room.

Falcon groaned and hung his head, "I shook her hand."

"You did what?"

"I didn't know what to do, so I shook her hand. She probably thinks I'm an idiot."

"And rightly so," Sirius said.

"Thanks for the encouragement."

"At least your girl isn't inviting old school masters into her room."

"What do you mean?"

"I went to Odessa's room to apologize for tonight, and there she was, flirting with O'Reilly."

"I doubt that. Hastings said O'Reilly came in and accused Odessa of cheating on her NEWTs."

"Really? Why?"

Falcon shrugged, "I don't know."

"I wonder if she's lying."

"Look Sirius," Falcon said, "just admit that you made a mistake breaking up with her and apologize. I'm sorry will get you far in this world."

"I was going to apologize."

"But then you jumped to the worst conclusion when you saw O'Reilly there and didn't even bother to find out the truth."

"Would you have if she'd cheated on you?" Sirius asked.

"You don't know that she cheated on you. You believed some rumor, most likely false. We both know Odessa wouldn't do anything like that. You should apologize for that as well."

Sirius shrugged, "I don't know mate. I don't know if I want to take the chance again."

"I think it's worth it, but who am I to say. My track record with women is pretty sad. I mean, I go around shaking their hands!" Falcon groaned again.

"Buck up, it'll be fine." Sirius said. "I'm going to bed. Night."

"Not a bad idea, I think I'll follow." Falcon said, making his way to his room, behind Sirius.

The next morning, Sirius woke early and showered, then made his way over to the teacher's lounge. Professors Vector, Flitwick, and Greene were there, talking about Greene's newest Herbology experiments. "Hello," said Sirius.

"Why, hello, young Potter," said the ancient Half-Goblin who was Flitwick. "Welcome back, it's good to see you again."

"Thanks," said Sirius.

"You know, Potter," said Professor Vector. "Your Father and Grandfather were both in my class, as were you, of course. Makes me think I ought to retire what with the young blood on staff."

"Oh, you'll never be old, Professor," said Sirius, flashing her a winning grin. Vector smiled at him fondly, and took a sip of tea.

Just then, Odessa walked in. Seeing Sirius, she changed her mind and was about to go find Hastings when Professor Green said, "Odessa! I'm so happy you are going to be Potions Master! You realize that we'll be collaborating many of our classes, don't you?"

Odessa walked down the stairs, averting her eyes from Sirius, and said, "I'm looking forward to it, Professor."

Sirius folded his arms and asked nonchalantly, "Sleep well?"

Odessa ignored him, then brightened as Falcon walked in. "Good morning, Fal," she said.

"Hi ya, Ode," he said.

"Morning, mate," said Sirius.

"Morning," said Falcon. Looking at Odessa again, he said, "Do you mind if I talk to you a moment?"

"Sure," said Odessa. "Want to take a walk over at the Black Lake?"

"Sounds fun."

Sirius plopped down on a couch and said, "Yeah, have a marvelous time, you two. Don't mind me…"

Odessa looked at him with a smirk and said, "Oh, we don't." As they walked down the corridor toward the castle entrance, Odessa said, "I wonder why Hastings isn't up yet. She never sleeps longer than me. She's usually up with the sun."

"Maybe she's around the grounds," said Falcon. "It's a nice day."

Opening the large door, they walked out into bright, warm sunshine, and had to squint their eyes. "I forgot how beautiful Hogwarts is in the summer," said Odessa.

"Yeah," said Falcon. "I really missed this place. Ten years goes by fast, doesn't it?"

"Sure does," said Odessa, as they headed across the grounds toward the Black Lake. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well… a couple things," said Falcon. "The first is Sirius."

"What about that git?" asked Odessa.

"He really cares about you," said Falcon. Odessa snorted a short laugh. "No, really. He actually thought that you had invited O'Reilly into your room last night."

"Are you crazy?" asked Odessa.

"That's what I asked him," said Falcon. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"He probably also still thinks I cheated on him," said Odessa stuffing her hands in her pockets.

"He does," said Falcon. "And if we're not careful, he'll think you and I have something going on."

"Now, that's just ridiculous," said Odessa with a laugh. "What an idiot. What was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

Falcon stopped walking and stared out onto the Black Lake. Eyes glazed over, mouth in a silly grin, he said, "Her."

Odessa smiled, "Why Falcon, I never knew you had a crush on Professor Vector. Isn't she a bit old for you?"

"Oh, shut up. You know who I mean."

"Of course I do. What about…her?"

"Well…this is rather embarrassing, but I shook her hand last night."

"So?"

"So? She must think I'm a total idiot. Shaking her hand? What was I thinking. I could have at least hugged her."

"I thought it was rather funny."

"What do you mean thought?"

Odessa gave him a look, "Girls talk idiot. Just like guys. I was rather amused about the whole thing. Cheered me up immensely."

"Brilliant," Falcon groaned. "She was laughing at me."

"Not at you, per se. Well, yes, she was, but in a good way. And only because I laughed first."

"Do you think I have a chance with Hastings?"

Odessa snorted, "She worships the ground you walk on. Has since our fourth year – trust me, you can do no wrong in her eyes."

"Seriously Ode."

"I am being serious. Look, you worry too much. Go back to the lounge. I'm sure Hastings is there by now. She was probably late because she had to make herself pretty for you."

"What about you?"

"I thought the Lounge had an odd odor to it, rather smelly actually. I think I'll stay outside."

"I wasn't kidding when I said Sirius still likes you," Falcon said.

"Perhaps not, but it's up to him to do something about it, isn't it?"

"You're just stubborn."

"I'm right, and you know I'm right. Besides, stubborn can be a good trait. You know that. How many times did my willingness to stick steadfast to a lie keep us out of detention? You were always willing to cave in and tell the truth."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Falcon looked hurt.

"It is when it's my butt on the line." Odessa pointed out. "Of course, if Hastings had been there, you guys probably would have won out. But I could never get her to come with me when you were going to be around. The fact that she's talking to you is a miracle. And if you don't go back to the castle she's going to start thinking she's the worst hand shaker ever and that you don't want to see her again. Go!"

Falcon smiled and headed back towards the castle, "Sure you don't want to come with me?"

"I'm sure!" Odessa called back. "I'm looking forward to my walk."

"Okay, see ya!"

Odessa ambled around the lake, enjoying the sights and sounds the brought back so many fond memories. She had loved being a Ravenclaw, although the others had bored her at times with how much studying they always insisted on doing. The Gryffindors could always be counted on for some fun. That's how she and Falcon had become such good friends, they had a penchant for getting in trouble when they were together. Odessa sighed, she and Sirius had had a lot of fun too. Hastings would always join her when it was just her and Sirius pulling a prank. Hastings had some great ideas of her own – like contaminating the Pumpkin Juice with a giggle potion. The mayhem that caused! And even better, they had never gotten caught. Odessa smiled at the memory.

"I'm glad to see you're alone." Surprised, Odessa turned around to see Professor O'Reilly heading towards her.