"That psycho did what!" asked Sirius, forcing himself to stay in the room and not run after that git and curse him.
"Calm down," said Odessa, "The point is, he made an accusation. A stupid one, at that. It just proves that he's trying whatever means necessary to cover himself. I mean, Professor Greene? Really…"
Sirius started pacing around his room. She'd gone to see him first thing when Professor O'Reilly left. "At least you have no more delusions of grandeur about how he really feels about you," said Sirius, trying to be calm, but not succeeding. "That prat! That bleeding dung hill! That festering piece of sh—"
"Shush, Sirius, this doesn't help," said Odessa. "We always knew he was a little off, now we know it's directed at me."
"That's the whole problem," said Sirius. "We know that he's the one cursing Minerva—he has to be. Now that he's as good as marked you as his territory—"
"Ew, gross mental picture," said Odessa.
"Now that he's done that, he'll be after you next. You can't trust him. He's likely to poison you as not. He's already coming into your room. That bastard! I'm gonna kill him! I'm gonna guard your door every night until I get the chance to get him!"
"Calm down," said Odessa. "Look, maybe we should talk to Professor Greene, or Minerva, or someone. Maybe even…"
There was a loud crash outside, in the men's common room. Odessa and Sirius jumped up and ran outside. In the middle of the floor, Gabe was getting up off the floor, clutching his knee and cursing quietly. "Well, so much for my surprise return," said Gabe.
"What happened?" asked Odessa as she and Sirius walked down the stairs.
"Not as graceful as I would like," said Gabe. "I tripped over something, but come to think about it, I can't tell what I tripped over. "You haven't been hiding dead bodies with your invisibility cloak, have you, Sirius?"
"No, I stopped doing that my sixth year," said Sirius.
"Hmmm, I wonder what it was then," Gabe started to feel around the floor. "I can't find anything," he shrugged and stood up. "I suppose it was just my own clumsiness," he said, but he didn't look convinced.
"Welcome back," Odessa said with a grin.
"Thanks. It feels good to be back." Gabe paused for a moment, "I have to confess that I overheard part of your conversation."
"And…" Sirius said.
"And I think someone is cursing Minerva as well. I've been studying her case for a month now and nothing makes sense. It's the only explanation."
"Who do you think's doing it?" Odessa asked.
"Not Professor Greene, that's for sure. She's a great herbologist, but I've seen her potion skills, not as advanced as would be needed to pull this off."
"How do you know about her potion skills?" Odessa asked, getting suspicious.
"She wanted some help with making a few common potions made from her more advanced plants. Said she was going to ask you but she knew you and Sirius had just gotten back together and she didn't want to disturb you. Trust me, she doesn't have the skill for it. I think it's O'Reilly too. I think he's the only one capable."
Sirius nodded, "Then we need to keep an eye on him. Especially when he's around Odessa."
"We could ask Jade to keep him from coming." Odessa said hopefully.
"I don't think that'll work," Sirius said. "I've known Jade for awhile now and she won't usurp Minerva's authority like that, even though she's acting headmistress. You'd better have a good reason, and all we have for now is conjecture."
"I suppose miracles can't happen everyday," Odessa said sadly. "But we do need to know who's cursing Minerva."
"Cursing Minerva?" A voice said from the door. The three looked over to see Falcon walk in. "Trust me, no one is cursing her. Having an attack of that overactive imagination of yours Odessa?" Falcon smiled, "I've studied her case myself, she should be well soon enough. And let's not forget that she's quite old."
"Are you okay Falcon?" Sirius asked, looking closely at him.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just here for tonight and tomorrow to work schedules and such out with Gabe. In fact, I came here to find him."
"What are you doing here?" Hastings walked in the room, glaring at Falcon.
"Didn't you receive my note?" He asked.
"Oh yeah, that." Hastings said. "How long are you here for?"
"Just tonight and tomorrow, as I was telling the others. But I'm in a hurry. Let's go Gabe." With a confused glance at the others, Gabe followed Falcon out the door.
"He sure was acting odd," Sirius said.
"I agree, he didn't seem himself," Odessa said.
"Probably just uncomfortable being here. Afraid that I'll say something about him writing that letter." Hastings clamped her hand over her mouth.
"What letter?" Sirius asked, looking at the guilty expressions on Odessa and Hastings faces. "Something tells me that you're not talking about the one he sent you."
"Why would you think that?" Odessa asked, her voice squeaking.
"Because Falcon already brought that one up." Sirius said. "Come on girls, fess up."
Odessa thought quickly but no lie would come to her. "Um…well, you see…" She looked at Hastings for help.
"Um…I um…when Falcon broke up with me we had an argument and he just let something slip that he should have kept to himself."
"And that would be?" Sirius asked.
"That he wrote the letter," Odessa said.
"I've gathered that much," Sirius said sarcastically.
"The one that you found on my desk. That said I was leaving you."
Sirius just stared at her for a moment, "You're lying."
Odessa held her hands up, "No, I'm not. I would never make something like this up. Please believe me."
"She's telling the truth," Hastings chimed in. "When we broke up he was mad at me and it just slipped out. That's what he was referring to when he wrote me, about being discreet. Um…I should probably go now." Hastings backed out of the room, mouthing "I'm sorry" to Odessa.
"Did he really write the letter?" Sirius asked Odessa, trying to remain calm.
"That's what he told Hastings, I doubt he'd lie about it."
"Did he say why?" Sirius asked, gripping the candlestick next to him so tightly that it snapped in two.
"He wanted to go out with me," Odessa said, cringing at how stupid that sounded.
"I knew he liked you, but he always said how happy he was for me…that bastard. I should kill the lying son-of-a-"
"No, you shouldn't," Odessa interrupted.
"Oh, I really think I should. Tonight. And then I'll kill O'Reilly and this world will have two less scumbags to worry about."
"It all worked out in the end," Odessa said, grabbing his arm, hoping to keep him in the common room.
"You're not even upset over this?" Sirius asked, incredulous.
"I was. I still am. But I've known for months now."
"And when were you planning on telling me?"
"When the time was right. I don't know Sirius, I didn't want to ruin the friendship between you guys. You've been best mates for years."
"You should have told me," Sirius said.
"I didn't know if you'd believe me," Odessa replied.
"Of course I'd believe you. Why wouldn't I…oh." Sirius sat on the couch. "I don't know what to think, what to do. I just want to go kill that man."
Odessa sat next to him, "I know you do. And personally, I wouldn't mind. Although the ministry might have a problem with it."
Sirius snorted, "Not if they didn't know about it."
"Sirius!"
"Don't worry, I won't condemn you to a life of sorrow by getting locked up in Azkaban."
"You certainly think a lot of yourself," Odessa said with a smile.
"And rightfully so. I'm going out with you – that says a lot."
"True. You do have exceptionally good taste."
"Just promise to keep him away from me," Sirius said. "I don't think I could handle looking at him.
Odessa grabbed his hand and laid her head on his shoulder, "I promise. I'll keep you away from O'Reilly too."
"No, I need to be around him. I need to figure out how he's poisoning Minerva."
"We'll have to come up with a plan in the morning," Odessa said, yawning. Sirius nodded. They sat there quietly watching the fire until they both fell asleep, Sirius sitting up and Odessa leaning against him with her head on his shoulder.
It was four in the morning when they woke up, a little stiff, the fire's embers dying. "I'm so sleepy," said Odessa.
"Here, I'll walk you to bed," said Sirius. He walked her to her room, waited as she got into bed, and kissed her cheek. "Sleep good for another… two hours."
Odessa groaned. "First years tomorrow," she said, "While you're making a list of people to kill, can you murder me so I don't have to teach tomorrow?"
"For you, I'd do anything… but I'm going to pull a selfish card here and say no," said Sirius with a smile. "Who would I date if you were dead?"
"Oh, yeah," said Odessa, yawning tiredly. "Wasn't thinking. Sorry about that."
"Well, don't let it happen again," said Sirius, then left her to sleep. She was already breathing deeply when he closed the door behind him.
He walked out into the common room, heading toward the men's common room and his chamber. He saw Hastings sitting on the couch, tying her trainers. "Don't you sleep, Hastings?" he asked.
"Of course I do," said Hastings. "At nine. I never sleep past four or five."
"You're crazy," said Sirius. "Where are you going?"
"For a walk around the Black Lake," said Hastings.
"Actually, crazy isn't the word for it. You're bonkers."
Hastings smiled, then said, "Fall asleep with Odessa?"
Sirius smiled and nodded. "Yeah… it was nice."
"Hmmm," said Hastings, standing up and zipping up her hoodie. "I feel like I should be asking you what your intentions are with my best friend."
"Totally dishonorable, I assure you," said Sirius.
"Good," said Hastings. "Just making sure." They walked out of the common room together and parted at the stairs to the men's dormitories.
"Have a good walk," said Sirius, yawning.
"Have a good sleep," said Hastings.
Hastings walked out of the tower and toward the great hall, looking forward to her walk. She came to the hospital wing corridor, and someone came walking around the corner, barreling into her. "Ouch," she said, falling on her rear.
Gabe stood up and extended a hand. "Sorry about that," he said.
"You just now quitting for the evening?" asked Hastings as she stood up.
"Yeah," said Gabe. "That Dr. Puddinghaste is a real stickler for detail. Told me all the potions were labeled wrong. We had to reorganize everything before he was satisfied. But he knows his stuff, that's for sure."
"Yeah," said Hastings. "He sure does."
"Where are you off to so early in the morning?"
"Walk outside," said Hastings. "I'm usually up this early."
"Wow," said Gabe.
"You… don't want to come, do you?"
Gabe checked his watch, stretched, and said, "Well, I guess at this point, it would be easier to stay up than go to bed. Sure, I'll come—as long as it's not too cold out."
"It's only November," said Hastings as they walked out the door to the grounds. "It's never bad in November. Now, my January morning walks have been known to be a little nippy, but…"
"Can I tell you something?" asked Gabe as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Sure," said Hastings.
"You're the oddest girl I've ever met."
"Why, thanks for the compliment," said Hastings with a bright smile. They headed towards the lake.
They were halfway around when Gabe said, "So… you went out with Dr. Puddinghaste, didn't you?"
"Why do you ask?" asked Hastings, surprised at the change of conversation from Quidditch injuries to relationships.
"Oh, just something he mentioned," said Gabe. "He talked about you all the time when I would swing by St. Mungo's for supplies. He seemed smitten with you. Then… he started to change somehow."
"Falcon wasn't smitten with me," said Hastings. "He wanted Odessa. Everyone does." She bit her lip.
"Well, he doesn't now, even if he used to," said Gabe. "Can't blame him, really… hey, hang on. What do you mean 'Everyone does'?"
"Nothing," said Hastings. "Just a joke. When we were kids… Anyone I introduced Odessa to automatically had a crush on her… Sometimes, I wonder if that's still the case—especially people like Falcon—uh, Dr. Puddinghaste."
"That's funny," said Gabe.
"Not if you were me," said Hastings. "She got the dates… I got to be the little sister."
"Well, I guess not," said Gabe, "But it is funny that you and Dr. Puddinghaste were going out."
"Why?" asked Hastings, suddenly feeling defensive.
"I don't mean any offense to you," said Gabe. "On the contrary, actually. You're fun-loving, and he's so… so…"
"Anal?" asked Hastings.
Gabe laughed out loud. "I guess," he said. "Just that he's serious. You're so different from him. What did you see in him?"
"Opposites attract," said Hastings. "For a little while, at least… Then I found out what a boring prat he was."
"Bad breakup?' Gabe asked.
"You could say that," Hastings replied. "I'm surprised he still liked me when he was at St. Mungo's."
"He did. He kept going on and on about how you thought he was boring and he thought you were perfect. When I asked him why he didn't try to win you back he said he'd slammed the door shut on that possibility by accident."
Hastings grinned, "That he did. More than you could ever imagine."
"Guys are stupid like that sometimes," Gabe said. "But, like I said, he started to change."
"Finally got over me," Hastings asked, trying not to feel hurt.
"No, not that. I mean…" Gabe paused awkwardly. "He stopped bemoaning the fact that you guys weren't together. But he also…I don't know. It's like the internship suddenly went to his head. He wouldn't talk to people like he used too, seemed very uppity. Even tonight. I thought we'd be friends again since he was away from the hospital but all he kept doing – besides pointing out everything I'd done wrong – is talk about Odessa's crazy ideas about people cursing other people and how stupid I was for even listening to her."
"You know Odessa's theory?" Hastings was surprised.
"I overheard her and Sirius discussing it, and I agree with them. Of course, Falcon said he didn't notice anything strange about Minerva's illness. Maybe I was reading into things. I don't know what to think anymore."
"Well, you should know that Odessa has a pretty wild imagination," Hastings said. "But a lot of times she's right on track, at least partly anyway."
"So what are you saying?" Gabe asked.
"That Odessa's probably onto something, even if it's not as sensational as she might think. It just might be some student with a grudge on Minerva."
"Hey, Hastings!" Odessa came running towards her and Gabe.
"I thought you were in bed," Hastings called back.
"I was, but it's already 6:30 – didn't you notice?"
"Guess not," Hastings said.
"Anyway," Odessa said, stopping next to her and Gabe, slightly out of breath, "your office has been broken into."
"What?"
"I went in there to find you for breakfast and the door was swung open and your stuff is all over the floor. I couldn't tell if anything was missing."
"Who would do that?" Hastings asked, jogging back to the castle with Gabe and Odessa following.
"One guess," Odessa said.