"Wake up Hastings," Odessa shook her hard on the shoulder. "Did you give them the potion?"

Hastings rubbed her eyes, "No, Myrtle was busy reciting poetry to Sirius. I thought we could slip it into their coffee this morning."
Odessa nodded, hitting her head on the headboard, "Ouch," she said, rubbing her head. "That was a rather stupid thing to do. You know Hastings, I'm starting to think they cursed something besides my bed. You better be the one to slip the potion into their drinks, I just don't trust myself to do it today."

"You're imagining things Ode, but I'll be happy too. You cause a distraction of some sort." Hastings grabbed her robe and headed downstairs with Odessa, catching her before she fell down the stairs. They made their way to the men's common room and knocked before opening the door.

"Good morning gentlemen," Hastings said, sitting down. "We thought we'd join you for breakfast. Oh, and I see Myrtle is here as well. Always a pleasure Myrtle." Myrtle grinned at them while Sirius eyed them suspiciously.

"And why would you join us for breakfast?" he asked.

"I think you know why," Odessa said, nodding slightly towards Myrtle.

"I don't think friends need a reason to have breakfast together," Hastings added, before Myrtle suspected something.

"Would you pass me the eggs please?" Odessa asked. Falcon passed it to her, but just as she went to grab it, it slipped from her fingers and crashed to the floor.

"I'm so sorry." Odessa said. "I think I'm clumsier than usual today."

Falcon and Sirius smiled at each other, "Don't worry about it Ode," Falcon said, leaning over to help Sirius clean up the mess. Happens to us all. With a few waves of their wands the eggs righted themselves back on the table. Neither noticed Hastings slipping the potion into their drinks.

"Please, allow me." Sirius spooned some eggs onto Odessa's plate and sat back, sipping his coffee." A knock on the door distracted him.

"Oh, hello ladies, I was wondering where you were," Professor Vector said, walking in. "Minerva wanted to know if you'd mind going to Hogsmeade and picking up a few supplies for her."

"Professor Vector!" Sirius said, jumping up. "You look ravishing today. Please, sit down, have some breakfast." Sirius smiled dumbly at her and gestured towards a chair.

"Thank you, Sirius," Professor Vector said, looking surprised, "But I've already eaten. I was just on my way to tidy up some classrooms."

"Oh! I'll help you! You really do look lovely today."

"Um, thanks Sirius. I could use the help," Professor Vector grinned at him and took his arm. "You look rather nice today as well."

Falcon looked at the girls, "What did you give him?"

Odessa looked shocked, "Um, a little something special to help make his day brighter."

"A little something special?" Falcon picked up his coffee to take a drink but thought better of it. "Like a love potion?"

"We'd better go," Hastings said, grabbing Odessa's arm. "Minerva asked us to go to town." She hurried out of the room, dragging Odessa behind her. Odessa smiled and waved goodbye, knocking several books off the table. "Bye Falcon!" Odessa called out, giggling.

"Did you make a love potion?" Hastings asked as soon as they were back in their rooms, getting dressed.

"Must have. I told you something's wrong with me. I think they cursed me Haste," Odessa grimaced as she tore her robes. "And these were my favorite pair. Would you mind fixing them? I might catch them on fire."

Hastings smiled and repaired the robes for Odessa. "When?"

"I don't know," Odessa said. I took a shower and came out here and…the shower!"

"The shower?"

"What do you want to bet my shampoo's cursed?"

"What about Professor Vector's? She seemed to be doing fine."

Odessa shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe they just put it in mine. Dirty rats."

Hastings grinned, "Speaking of dirty rats, Sirius seems rather taken with Professor Vector, and I don't think she minds. Of course, Myrtle won't be happy."

"I'm not worried about Myrtle. We'll tell her that Falcon slipped a love potion into Sirius' drink because he was concerned with how taken Sirius was with her. Besides, Falcon figured out what we did – even though we didn't know what we were doing. So he'll be busy fixing that."

Hastings nodded, "By the way, great distraction."

Odessa grimaced, "That wasn't on purpose."

"Oh well, it worked. So what should we do next?" Hastings asked.

Odessa grinned, "What do you say we go mix a few of Falcon's potions up?"
"Odessa! That could hurt someone."

"None of the serious ones, just the ones that don't matter as much. Like the headache potion, and the allergy potion and stuff like that. It won't hurt anybody. We can pick some stuff up at Hogsmeade."

Hastings grinned, "I like how you think."

"I'm so glad. Shall we?"
"We shall." Hastings walked out the door and Odessa followed, but not before tripping over her robes and banging into the wall.

It couldn't be a finer day for a walk through the grounds. Odessa was positively taken with the lush green of the grass and trees, and the warmth of the sun on her back. It would have been better if her right foot hadn't found the only mud puddle on the dry, dusty road that went through the town of Hogsmeade. "We really need to get you cured of your Faustus Malloren complex," said Hastings.

"It wears off in 24 hours," said Odessa. "Assuming, of course, that they only gave me a little bit of it. I could be like this forever."

"Well," said Hastings. "Why don't we try to brew you up a batch of Felix? I bet that'll counter your bad luck."

"Somehow, I don't think I should go around mixing any potions today," said Odessa.

"Well, I could—"

"I don't think so, Haste," said Odessa rather too fast. "I trust my bad luck potion-making skills more than yours, which have always been abysmal."

"Don't I know it?" asked Hastings jovially. "Good thing I scraped a Satisfactory on my OWLs. I have no idea why I ended up becoming a teacher."

"Because your Patronus is a Giant silvery Thestral that probably made your examiners pee in their robes, and you can laugh a Boggert to death better than anyone I've ever seen."

"I'd never have made it as an Auror, though," said Hastings.

"Yeah, you'd never have made it through the Combat Skills Testing without killing someone."

"Can I help it if I'm a non-conformist who hates to take orders?" asked Hastings.

They were just passing the Three Broomsticks when they heard voices behind them. It was Falcon and Sirius. "Hurry!" said Hastings, grabbing Odessa's arm and pulling her into an alleyway. Hiding behind some dust bins, the listened to the men's conversation.

"I don't want to go! I must see her… my goddess… my muse… my reason for living and my breath of life!" Odessa covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud.

"Looks like he's not over Vector yet," said Hastings.

"Come on, mate," said Falcon. "You'll be right as rain in a few minutes. We need to see Madam Rosemerta. She'll set you right."

"But," said Sirius with passion, "She needs me! I haven't finished helping her scrub out the chamber pots—"

"She's bloody sick of you declaring your love every second, you prat." said Falcon, continuing to drag his friend down the street. As they passed the alleyway, Odessa and Hastings almost burst as they saw Falcon's amused but resolute façade, and Sirius's disheveled, love-sick appearance.

Once they were sure they hadn't been seen, Odessa and Hastings crept out of the alley and watched the two men walk into the Three Broomsticks. "Have you ever seen a man look so pathetic?" asked Hastings.

"Yes," said Odessa softly. "I've seen it…"

Hastings looked at her friend with a confused expression on her face. Uncomfortable with the sudden silence, Hastings cleared her throat and said, "Um, let's just get to our shopping for McGonagall. Ah, here—into Office Supplies for the Professional Witch or Wizard. Come on in, Ode."

Odessa followed, and tried to put a friendly demeanor on, but as they looked for parchment, quills, and ink, she seemed a little more and more down-hearted. When she knocked over a rainbow set of Ink jars, Hastings cleaned it up and sent her outside to sit on a bench while she finished shopping. "You're gonna cost us galleons with your bad luck, Ode," said Hastings, pointing to the door.

"Odessa readily agreed to leaving Hastings to the shopping, and walked out into the warm summer air. She sat on a rough-hewn bench in front of the window, feeling calmed by the soft breeze in the air. In a moment, she saw Falcon and Sirius come out of the Three Broomsticks across the street. Sirius was walking on his own now, standing up straight, and running his fingers through his black hair in an attempt to tame the unkempt look. The effect only made it spikier and less manageable, but somehow, on his tall, thin frame, the look was right, and it reminded Odessa of the old days…

Torn out of her reverie at the sight of the handsomest man she'd ever known, was the reality that they were both walking toward her. She tucked her hair behind her ears and smoothed her robes, trying to look as though she hadn't just been staring at Sirius Potter for the last minute.

"Fancy seeing you here," said Falcon, almost a bounce in his step.

"And you," said Odessa.

"Where's your partner in crime?" asked the now-cured Sirius.

"Inside, buying up all the green ink she can find," said Odessa. "Told me to wait outside when I shattered seven multi-colored bottles…"

Falcon chuckled, but Sirius just stood, staring at Odessa.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Nothing," he shot back quickly, and looked away.

"Um… I think I'll just go and see what's keeping Hastings," said Falcon, pushing the door open and walking inside.

Sirius looked at the ground and shoved his hands in his pockets, his foot kicking slightly at the ground. After a moment, he pulled his hands out of his pockets, his left hand holding onto a bottle. He brought his hands together, effectively hiding the bottle before him, and sat next to Odessa. "Look," he said. "Maybe we've all gotten a bit out of hand…"

Odessa, shocked beyond words that he should say something like that, she just nodded.

"So… here's the deal," said Sirius. "I give you this…" he showed her the bottle in his hand. It was clear, with sapphire blue liquid inside. "And we call it a truce."

"Where'd you get that?" asked Odessa. "It's Felix, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Sirius. "Madam Rosemerta had it. When she cured me… I thought… we should just put this all behind us. I mean… it is rather childish, you know?"

"Well, I agree, Sirius," said Odessa. "And I appreciate the gesture. I was feeling guilty about giving you the Number 9. Truce?" she held out her right hand, and Sirius shook it, leaving the bottle with her.

"Should be enough to counter the bad luck… and maybe give you a nice evening," said Sirius, smiling warmly. Odessa smiled back, remembering again how things used to be between them, almost wishing those days could come back.

"What happened between us, Sirius?" she asked.

Sirius looked at her, then looked away. "I… I don't know, Odessa. Jealously, suspicion. The usual, I guess."

"But we never really stopped being friends, did we?" asked Odessa. It was as much a question as it was a statement. She was affirming her friendship toward him while asking if she was still his.

"Of course," he said, smiling his crooked, charming half-smile. "You'd better drink that Felix before something else happens."

Odessa unstopped the bottle and said, "Thanks, Sirius," then drank it down.

There was, indeed, Felix inside, immediately taking away the effects of the Faustus. But there was something else, as well. Something that took the form of a great, puffy gray beard on Odessa's face. "Aging potion!" she asked, looking hurt.

Sirius jumped up and dodged as she threw the potion bottle at him, laughing. "That's for the Love Potion!" he said. "Now we can have a truce."

"Not on your life, Sirius Potter," said Odessa. "This means war, you prat!" Sirius continued to laugh as Hastings and Falcon walked out of the store, both cracking up at the sight of Odessa's face.

"Hmmm," said Falcon. "I guess we're still playing war…"

"Well," said Hastings. "They were the ones playing war in the first place, weren't they? It was never really us…"

Without another word, Falcon took Hastings's hand and kissed it. "Until next we meet, Miss Applespice." He nodded, winked, and walked over to Sirius, punching him playfully in the arm. "Come on, Potter. Let's get you armored up for whatever punishment is coming your way."