Strings of Fate

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Cam 11- Pranks and potions

I am surprised to find that Harrison is actually not a bad assistant. He listens well enough that I never have to repeat my directions more than once. He seems to be aware enough to not stand in my way when I move around and he even tidies up any spills I make along the

way without being asked. I don’t even mind his stream of questions at each stage of the process. For once he remains totally serious, not trying to flirt or make any kind of innuendo the entire time we work. It actually seems like he might be genuinely interested in what I’m doing. I try to imagine my grandmother’s reaction if she knew I was making a potion in front of a non–coven member. Somehow it makes the entire experience more entertaining and Harrison’s impressed exclamations every time I imbue the potion with magic and it changes colour or some ingredient dissolves away into it is far more satisfying than I would be willing

to admit out loud. We work quickly, but by the time we finish I’m surprised to find that it’s been over two hours. Oops, I didn’t mean to leave Cora working alone for so long. Hopefully it hasn’t been too busy for her. I step out to check on her.

“Are you alright out here Cora? I didn’t mean to be gone so long.” I tell her apologetically.

“Oh don’t mind me. It’s been pretty quiet out here. If I had a guy like that trailing after me I’d be taking extra long breaks too.” She winks at me.

“Cora! It’s not like that. He was just helping me with a potion.” I insist. Cora raises an

eyebrow.

“You’ve never asked me to do that.” She points out.

“Or left me alone in your work room for that matter.”

“What? I didn’t-” Oh shoot. I have left him there alone. I didn’t even think about it. How

strange, yesterday I hesitated to even let him in and now I’ve left him unsupervised. I’m suddenly struck with a bolt of fear and without another word I dash back to my work room. I expect to find that he’s gotten himself into trouble somehow or (please no) managed to ruin the potion which we just finished. But no, he’s… cleaning. I stop in the doorway, a little

stunned.

“You… put my things away.” I state the obvious, but I’m a little confused. Harrison whirls on

the spot to face me.

Cam 11- Pranks and potions

“Did I get something wrong? I noticed you have them organised very specifically. I did my best to remember where you took them all from but I might have gotten something wrong.” He says earnestly. I don’t know how to respond. No one has ever helped me clean up AFTER making a potion before. Even in my coven after we finished making a potion I would end up doing most of the clean up by myself. It’s why I developed such an obsession for keeping my supplies in order. My mother used to insist that the most inexperienced Witch is in charge of the clean up and that if I didn’t want to do it anymore then I should get married and have a daughter of my own.

“You didn’t have to do that.” I told him quietly. Harrison frowns at me.

“You did most of the work. What kind of assistant would I be if I couldn’t at least help tidy. up? Is it alright?” He asks. I glance at the shelf. I swap over two herbs that he mixed up. An easy enough

mistake to make, they do look fairly similar if you aren’t familiar with them. Other than that, everything’s in its proper place.

“You did well.” I compliment him and he grins at me.

“Cleaning isn’t the only thing I do well.” He says suggestively, taking a step towards me. I throw a damp cleaning cloth at him. It hits him square in the face.

“For you to wipe that look off your face.” I tell him primly. I expect him to be offended but Harrison just takes it in stride.

sit

“I was talking about singing obviously. I’m a fantastic singer.” He winks at me and I roll my eyes at him.

“Of course you were.” I comment dryly.

I had every intention of delivering the tracking spell myself. I want to explain its use properly and I sort of want to see the Alphas again. They were… more approachable than I had

expected and I wanted to talk to them more about my getting volunteers for my magical experiments. But it’s just getting late and the bar is picking up. I really ought to work, not to mention I am expecting a delivery any time now and I don’t want to leave Cora to deal with it herself. Not after I’ve been so slack this afternoon. When Harrison offered to deliver the

glass bottle for me it seemed like a good idea. But now th I’m faced with actually handing it

over to him, I find I’m a little anxious. It was a lot of work and I don’t want to have to ask for

Cam 11- Pranks and potions

another personal item from the little girl so I can start all over again.

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. I could just take it tomorrow.” I start to put the little bottle of purple potion away. Harrison objects, placing a hand over my wrist to stop me.

“Oh come on. You let me help make the spell. If I was going to ruin it I would have already done it by now.” I sigh. He’s right, I’m being unreasonable and a bit of a control freak.

“Oh fine. You can deliver it. But BE CAREFUL.” I stress the words as I reluctantly hand him. the little bottle. It immediately slips from his fingers towards the floor.

“Whoops.” He catches it then grins mischievously.

“Oh you menace. You did that on purpose!” I accuse him. He gasps in fake offence and presses a hand to his chest dramatically.

“I would never. I’m just so terribly clumsy you see.” He says in a mocking tone. I narrow my eyes. Well in that case. Before he can react, I grab his right hand in between mine. He looks absolutely bewildered.

“Cam, what are you-” He’s cut off by my murmuring the words to a spell. It’s a simple enough enchantment that I don’t even need a potion to cast it. It’s essentially a super glue spell. My grandmother used to use it to put up decorations around the holidays. It’s invisible so bonus, no hooks! To end the spell you just set a trigger. I could do it with magic, but since the Alphas won’t have that option, I choose something a little more accessible and of course I make sure to add my own little flair to it. Spell cast, I snatch the potion from Harrison’s left hand and place it carefully into his right hand. He looks incredibly confused.

“What was that?” he demands. I can’t help but smirk.

“Think of it as magical glue. You won’t be putting that potion down until I give you the trigger for how to release it. So I suggest you hurry up and deliver it to Ryann because your right hand will be completely useless until you make the delivery.” I tell him smugly. I expect him to complain or at least to show some kind of concern but he just grins.

“It’s a good thing I’m left–handed then.” He says with a sniger. I just stare at him.

Cam 11- Pranks and potions

“You know, I can think of plenty of fun things we could try with only one hand. I could-”

“NO, none of that.” I cut him off and begin to shove him towards the door. He goes willingly because there’s no way I could move him if he didn’t.

“Now go, get out of here. I don’t want to hear from you until that potion has been delivered.”

I insist.

“How am I going to tell you when I’ve delivered it? You should give me your phone number so that I can call you.” He suggests. I shake my head.

“Nope, I suspect you would abuse the privilege far too much. You can ask Ryann to call me when you deliver it. That potion goes directly to her or Bellamy. No one else, you hear me? Now go.” I insist.

“Oh fine. I’ll drop it for now.” He stops in the doorway and hesitates.

“You… you don’t really think I would lose or damage the spell do you? I mean, this glue–spell is just a joke… right?” He asks. I just shrug in response. Let him make of it what he will.