Hastings was covering her mouth and nose at the sudden, unmistakable odor of old blood.
"Everything okay?" asked Gabe.
"Mm-hmm," said Hastings. "I just need to breathe through my mouth." She took a deep breath, trying to look the other way. Professor Greene had shown no hesitation when she saw the blood lilies. In the half-light, they looked like ordinary—though beautiful—white Calla Lilies, shining with beaded dew on their trumpet petals. Professor Green took a small, hand-held scythe—the kind used in harvesting grapes—and cut the lily just above the base, near the earth. There was a sickening, spilling sound of thick liquid onto the dirt, and Hastings had to turn around.
"Hand me a bottle, would you?" asked Jade to no one in particular. Gabe, noticing that Hastings was about to be sick, grabbed a bottle and handed it to Jade. "Thank you," said Jade. "They're easy enough to handle once they start gushing, but I hate to waste this sap. Works in many antidotes, as well as being a slow-working poison."
"That's fascinating," said Hastings, sucking air through her teeth.
"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Gabe, who walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Oh yeah, I'm great. Just famous—really."
"Is it… the smell?" asked Gabe.
"Yes," said Hastings. "I smelled it when… well, a long time ago. Can't stand it now."
Gabe moved a little closer and said softly, "When… when your sister was killed?"
Hastings shot him a look, "How did you know?" she whispered.
"Sirius told me," said Gabe. "I hope you're not mad at him. He said something about checking my compassion skills before he let me hang around you. I think he's appointed himself as your big brother or something."
"That's… that's really sweet," said Hastings.
"Yeah, it is. But I can see why he feels so protective." They both smiled at each other and then stared at the ground.
"Well," Hastings said, trying to cover up the awkward silence that followed, "thanks for your concern. Yes… there was… blood when she… when my sister died."
"I'm so sorry," said Gabe quietly.
There was the sound of something dropping to the ground. "Curses!" Professor Greene said. She'd accidentally dropped her scythe, and the blood lily she was working on squirted on her robes. "It'll never wash out."
Gabe absently patted Hastings's back and then walked over to Jade. "Let me help you with that."
Hastings took a few more breaths through her mouth, glad that Gabe was here. So much for her ability to protect Professor Greene, should she need it. A breeze blew toward her, rustling the leaves of the trees, and Hastings caught another whiff of the blood lily, though by now they were mostly contained, and Jade and Gabe were cleaning up. Hastings felt her mouth start to water, and she walked several feet away, trying to breathe slowly through her mouth and get fresh air into her system. But wherever she walked, the wretched smell of blood seemed to follow her, gripping at her nostrils.
Her mouth watered even more, and her stomach churned like a tide pool during a storm. Mortified, but unable to control it, she vomited promptly on the ground before her.
"Hastings!" Gabe called, jogging over to her. "I knew you weren't okay. We need to get you out of here. Are you almost done, Professor?"
"Just finished," said Jade, picking up her rucksack and shouldering it. "Thank you dears, we can go now."
"Thanks for what?" asked Hastings, wiping her mouth with her sleeve, and then spitting the foul taste in the dirt. "I didn't help at all."
"Nonsense," said Professor Greene. "I'm sure you'd have done your duty if we were in any real danger. Don't feel bad. There are few people who can stand strong smells."
"Yeah," Gabe agreed, "I think a good ninety percent of them are either Herbologists or Medi-Wizards."
"It doesn't bother you?" asked Hastings, walking back with them.
"Nah," said Gabe. "I've smelled worse things… believe me." As they walked, Gabe's hand rested protectively on her middle back. Hastings tried to turn her attention away from it.
"Yeah? Like what?" She asked.
"Bubotuber puss, for one thing," said Gabe, wrinkling his nose.
"Oh, I agree," said Professor Greene cheerfully. "Like rancid cat urine. But, of course, Mandrake seed oil is equally nauseating."
Hastings had smelled Mandrake seed oil before; it smelled like a baby's diaper. Her stomach started churning again, "Maybe we should change the subject and move just a little faster…"
"Oh," said Gabe, "Sorry about that."
"That's okay," said Hastings, longing for the open air of the Hogwarts grounds instead of the stifling enclosure of the Forbidden Forest. "I just don't want to… want to…" She cleared her throat and looked at Gabe. "Excuse me," she said, and bent double to be sick again. Luckily, Gabe dodged her line of fire, side-stepping it. Unfortunately, he side-stepped into a patch of Dream Ivy. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Gabe!" Hastings said.
Gabe stepped out of the patch and said, "Oh, that's okay, it's only—" Suddenly, he fell to the ground with a thud, fast asleep.
"Ooh, the Dream Ivy's particularly strong this time of year!" said Jade, ignoring the fact that a man who almost outweighed the both of them in muscle had just fallen to the ground.
"Oh, no!" Hastings exclaimed.
"Yes, well," said Jade, "I suppose this is rather a damned nuisance."
"Maybe I should run and get Hagrid Junior." said Hastings.
"Oh, well, if you think you can manage, dear," said Jade, sidetracked.
Hastings looked down the path. The light from Hagrid's hut was just barely visible. "I'm sure I can," she said. "The fresh air will do me good. Besides, there's no way we can get him back to the castle by ourselves."
"Well, in that case, I'm going to take some time to harvest a little of this Dream Ivy."
"Don't touch it with your bare hands," said Hastings.
"Oh, I won't," said Jade, "Though, of course Hagrid could carry the both of us back in one hand."
It was true, thought Hastings as she jogged along the path to Hagrid's hut. But if Greene were to touch the Ivy, they'd be at the mercy of the forest until she got back with Hagrid.
Hastings was relieved when she finally came out onto the grounds and ran the rest of the way to Hagrid's hut. But her heart sank when she saw a note on the door.
Gone to Hogsmeade for the weekend.
All questions pertaining to grounds-keeping should be addressed to the Headmistress.
Have a happy Halloween!
-Hagrid Jr.
"You've got to be kidding me!" said Hastings. Glancing back into the forest and already feeling a stitch in her side, she decided the only thing she could do was get help from Odessa and Sirius. She didn't dare risk calling out to Jade through the forest—that could be dangerous. If only she had some Ministry Memo paper with her that she could use to make a note to fly to Jade and let her know she'd gone to get help. She glanced at the note again and tore it from Hagrid's door while grabbing a stub of chalk from her last class in her pocket. She hastily scribbled a note on the reverse side, then rolled it up into a ball. She stood facing where she knew Professor Greene and the sleeping Gabe to be, and tapped the ball with her wand, muttering, "Abiego!" the repelling spell. It went about ten feet, then hit a tree and fell to the ground. "Stupid paper!" cursed Hastings. "Accio!" It flew back to her and she caught it. She moved again, this time, accounting for trees in the way, and said, "Abiego," again. This time, it flew through the air and hit Professor Greene in the head. "Good enough," said Hastings, and ran to the castle to find Odessa and Sirius.
"You found the students doing what?" Odessa asked, trying not to laugh.
"They were trying to-"
"Sirius! Odessa! I'm so glad you're here," Hastings called as she ran up to them, out of breath."
"What happened?" Asked Sirius, taking in Hastings dirty robes and catching the smell of something rather foul.
"It's Gabe. He stepped in some Dream Ivy. Hagrid Jr. is in Hogsmeade and I need help bringing him back."
Sirius looked confused, "Why don't you just use levicorpus on him?"
"Because…because I didn't think about it," Hastings said looking at the ground, embarrassed. Sirius started laughing.
"Don't laugh at her, you git." Odessa said, hitting him on the arm. "Don't worry Hastings, I know everything seems a bit scarier in the forest." She paused for a moment, "Too bad you didn't have a wardrobe to hide him in."
"Shut up you ninny," Hastings said, starting to laugh at herself. "I was so concerned with how I was going to carry him back that I forgot I have a wand."
"Where's Jade?" Odessa asked.
Hastings rolled her eyes, "Engrossed with the Dream Ivy. I don't even think she noticed that Gabe was lying there."
Sirius smiled, "I'm not surprised. I've known that woman ever since I started working here, and she's more dedicated than Professor Sprout. It's almost funny. I'll go with you."
"Me too," Odessa piped up.
"You really don't have to," Hastings protested. "I mean-" A loud thump interrupted her, followed by a scream. The three of them turned to the front of the room to see Professor McGonagall lying on the floor with O'Reilly kneeling over her.