Sofia arrived at the top of the tower with rather impressive speed. She had managed to sprint to there from the garden in a matter of only about ten minutes, which considering the distance was actually quite fast. She made it to the door completely out of breath, but before she could even knock the door swung open and there stood the very irritated Sorcerer. "Princess Sofia, it's nearly a quarter past 4 this is the second time in two weeks that-" he stopped short, the annoyance left his face and his eyes widened as he looked down at her. He looked transfixed and she wasn't sure why, she wanted to say something, but was still trying to catch her breath.

"You've been running." he said in a softer tone after a pause. She nodded, still completely confused by what was going on. He stood like that for a moment longer and slowly stretched out a hand toward her hair. If she hadn't already been flushed from the run than the blush she felt creeping up her face would have been very evident.
"Mr. Cedric? Is something wrong?" That snapped him back to reality. He pulled back his hand slightly,gesticulating to her hair that had fallen out of place.

"You're a mess." he said finally in a tone that suggested mild disgust. "Come in now and get ready, we haven't got all day to be standing in Doorways! Merlin's Mushrooms, Sofia, I'm a very busy man!" she was slightly relieved, as far as scoldings from Cedric went, she had gotten off fairly lightly. He ushered her in, and gave her a moment longer to catch her breath and fix her appearance. She pulled out her wand: "Alteramentum!" she cried pointing her it at herself, her gown was replaced by indigo robes speckled with silver stars, and her hair was instantly managed.

"Are you alright now? Are you ready?" Cedric said somewhat impatiently. Sofia nodded.

"Yes. Thank you, Mr. Cedric. I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-" he held up a hand to silence her.

"Yes, yes, I know you're sorry. Just don't do it again! Or else I may just decide that I no longer need an apprentice !" Sofia laughed at the Sorcerer's threat.

"Oh come now, Mr. Cedric, you know you wouldn't. You enjoy these lessons just as much as I do!" It was a very "Sofia" thing to say, and even though the lingering doubts from the morning came back to her, she tried very hard to convince herself that it was true.

Cedric sighed and rolled his eyes, "If you say sooooo." he replied dramatically, but she could see hear the mock irritation in his voice and see a slight smirk appear on his lips and it put her at ease.
"What are we doing today?!"

"We? I'm brewing a potion, but you, dear Princess, are to read 5 chapters from Magickal Uses of Herbs and I want a report on the healing properties and proper use of the Valerian Root by the end of today's session."
She groaned. She should have known she wouldn't get off that easily. It was Cedric's habit to assign her book work when he was displeased.

"What?! But that's not fair!"
"Well, than someone should have arrived on time."
"I couldn't help it!"

He sighed again exasperated "Fine! Let's hear it, what's todays excuse?! Hmm?"
She froze. What was she supposed to tell him: "Oh, I was just picking flowers in the garden and daydreaming about you kissing me. Very pressing matters, as you can see!" Yes, because that would go over well.
"I, I.. " she faltered, "I was helping Amber." she said finally, because it was true. "She's planning a Ball to announce her Engagement to Prince Hugo." Cedric shot her a sympathetic glance. He rolled his eyes again and groaned

. "I suppose she'll want some sort of magic trick won't she?"

"Well, we hadn't discussed it, but you know Amber."

"Well, I am just a-shiver with anticipation at whatever Her Majesty's request may be!" his voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, stop!" cried Sofia, but then giggled. "It really is important to her… and I'll be there to help! I promise to make sure it isn't too unbearable for you."

He studied her for a minute, and sighed once more.
"I'm probably going to regret this, but alright, you can help me."
"Oh! Thank you Mr. Cedric!" she cried with delight.

"Yes, yes, you're welcome!" said the Sorcerer dismissively, rolling his eyes once more.

"What are we brewing?"
"A potion, as I said earlier.

"What's it for?"
"A Migraine Headache."
"Whose it for?"

"Me, If you don't stop your incessant questioning, Princess!"
"Sorry, Mr. Cedric." This was not going well.
"Of course you are. Now just hand me what I ask for."

She did her best to concentrate handing him what he asked for as it was needed : Peppermint,rosemary, vex vine, catnip, bark from the enchanted willow… was that 3 unicorn hairs?... her attention started to fade as she studied the side of his face intently. She'd always found him quite handsome, he was so unlike anyone else she had seen.

It wasn't as though she had never done this before, she admired his face and form constantly, (she was especially fond of his two-toned hair) but she couldn't shake the memory of the dream, and focused in, noticing things that perhaps she hadn't before. For instance, she had discovered that he had an almost imperceptible freckle or mole on his top lip. His lips looked very soft too, she wondered what it would be like if he really were to kiss her? She quickly shook away that thought and looked up at his eyes, she'd never really noticed the bags under his them. The poor man! He really didn't get any sleep did he? Of course how could he? On top of the fact she was constantly stopping by at all hours, he was always trying to perfect a charm or a spell or a potion. She should really do something about that… Sofia's musings were suddenly interrupted: The potion that Cedric was currently brewing, suddenly began to bubble and gurgle and in the next instant the contents went up in a cloud of black smoke. Cedric coughed as it billowed out into his face.

"Mr Cedric, are you alright?!"

He moaned miserably, and faced her, his hair and face covered with soot.
"Never better." he deadpanned, but he was obviously very irritated.

"Sofia, what was that last ingredient I asked for?"
Oh dear, she couldn't remember…

"Three hairs from a unicorn?"
"Wrong! It was two hairs from a unicorn and the tooth from a Manticore! Were you even listening? Honestly, Princess Sofia, if you're not going to pay attention, I don't want to waste my time. Perhaps it'd be best if we end today's session early."
"No! Please, Mr. Cedric, don't make me leave! I promise I won't cause any more problems! " she was surprised to hear her voice sounding almost tearful. Cedric looked at her sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ooooohhhh! Just go sit and read about the Valerian root and don't bother me until I'm finished with this potion, which I now have to start all over again." She nodded and went over and sat at her little stool near the window. Glancing up she saw Cedric wiping the soot from his face and then start to re-collect the ingredients. He was muttering to himself, but she couldn't tell if he was complaining about her or reading his list aloud to himself. Heaven knows he did both often enough. It was a habit she had come to expect of him.

She caught herself stealing glances at his face again, looking back at her book when she thought he might look her way. On this second inspection she realized that he really hadn't aged much in all the years she'd known him, with the exception of a few lines on his face. She wondered why. She thought of a Magician she had once read about in one of Cedric's books. He had been cursed not only to be incredibly inept at magic, but also with immortality until he was able to find his power, she couldn't remember all that she'd read about him, except that it had something to do with Unicorns. Cedric wasn't cursed ,was he? Maybe Sorcerers aged differently? Her thoughts were going a million miles a minute.

"A-ha! Caught you Princess!"
Sofia nearly jumped up and off her seat.

"What did you say?!" she gasped, eyes widened. she thought for a moment that Cedric's had too, but couldn't be sure, because he was suddenly glaring at her again.

"You were staring at me. Why? What, have I got something on my face?!"
"Well actually…" she pointed to where a streak of soot remained.

He looked annoyed. "Just… get back to your reading. I don't want to see you look up again!"
"Yes, Mr. Cedric."
A few moments passed in tense silence.

"Sofia?"

"Yes, Mr. Cedric?" she was about to look up, but kept her eyes on the page she'd now read about 25 times.
"Were you outside the door to my Workshop this morning?"
She froze. How did he know that?! Oh no, he must have heard her. Well, she couldn't very well lie about it now.
"Oh, yeees. I was. How did you know?"
"I heard someone run down the steps."
"Oh."
"Why didn't you knock?"
"Oh, well, I thought you might be sleeping,or busy…. annnnd I didn't want to bother you."
She heard him snort with laughter.
"Well, that's a first!"
He must have noticed she felt uncomfortable because he added:
"It's not as if you coming up at all hours of the day isn't something I haven't become accustomed to."

"I know." the silence returned for a minute or two until:

"What did you want?"
"Want?!" she parroted.
"Yes, Princess, want. I assume you were going to ask for something when you came up?"
"You know, I do come by just to visit you, I don't always "Want" something." she said somewhat defensively.
"I suppose that's true." Cedric conceded.

"But, if that were the case, than I don't think you would have run away."
Oh Turnips, he had her there!
She sighed, "Well, you see… I wanted to ask you about dreams."
"Dreams!" he all but screeched and she thought she heard glass shaking.
"Yes, well, I had a rather strange one last night. It was very… vivid. It wasn't like any dream I've had before. It seemed almost real and I… thought maybe you could help?" the words sounded foolish leaving her lips. She chanced a glance up at Cedric. He stood in profile looking contemplative.

"Well, yes, there are many kinds of dreams, beyond what you might normally have. Lucid dreaming, Prophetic dreams, Psychic dreaming, Cosmic dreaming… that's what you seem to be describing…" he trailed off.

"I.. I have a book about it, that you may borrow. It'll explain it better than I could." he seemed uneasy, but went over to his shelf and grabbed something bound in blue leather.
"Here." he placed it next to her before walking back to his potion.

"Thank you, Mr. Cedric!" the girl cried.

"Don't mention it. Really."

"Mr. Cedric, what do you dream about?" the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. This time the sound of breaking glass was unmistakable.
she jumped up, and looked at the floor where beaker he had been holding now lay in pieces, and then back up at the Sorcerer who was very clearly taken aback.

"Mr. Cedric! Are you alright?!"
"Yes. F-fine."
"Are you sure?" she asked, her blue eyes shining with concern.
"Yes, I'm sure! Why did you ask me that?"
She looked down, blushing. "I'm not sure. I guess I was just curious."
"Well in order for one to dream, one must actually get some form of sleep and we both know how well that goes for me.
"But, Mr. Cedric-"
"Princess Sofia, you don't want to know the things I dream about." he spoke low and his voice had taken on a warning tone and although she did, in fact, want to know what her beloved Sorcerer dreamed of, she dropped the subject.

They spent the rest of their time together in uneasy silence until Baileywick came to fetch Sofia for dinner. She picked up the book about dreams that Cedric had loaned her and exchanged quiet goodnight's with him, before following Baileywick down the stairs. Her heart was as heavy as it had been that morning and she fought the urge to cry.