Hope chewed on the end of her pen as she stared at the circle of grimoires around her. She'd gotten the clay Penelope needed. It was easy enough to find a big chunk sitting in the art room - maybe in the form of someone's final art project, maybe not.

Now she was working on rewriting the prison world spell. She'd stolen it from the twins long ago but had never thought about using it without a Gemini witch. She was still trying to figure out how to do it by herself and without Bennett blood. That was where her mind started to actually work.

Her door creaked open slowly. "Uh ... busy?"

"A little bit," she replied without looking up from the needle above her finger. She drew a drop of blood, dropping it into the bottle in front of her.

MG smiled at the setup. Hope rarely did magic anymore - not like she used to before she activated her vampire side. It was nice to see her back to embracing her witch side. "Anything I can help with?" he asked.

"Depends. Would you let me channel your immortal life force for a bit?"

"I think I would."

Hope gestured to the seat across from her. "Sit."

"So what is this spell for?"

"For three months of Penelope's supply."

MG furrowed his eyebrows, still smiling. "Penelope offered you three months free? Damn, she must really need this. What does it do?"

"Makes her think she has a shot at getting Josie back." Hope slammed down the cork in her hands, a little harder than she meant to. "How did your date with Lizzie Saltzman go?"

"What - I - Well, she stood me up." MG tucked his hands away nervously. "I did basically everything except go to the Salvatore School myself - wait, how did you know I was meeting Lizzie?"

Hope shrugged. "I went to the Salvatore School myself. Give me your hands." When he offered, she took both his hands in hers. "I didn't know you two were a thing."

MG raised an eyebrow. "A thing?"

"Yeah, a thing. How long have you two been dating?"

"We're not dating." MG shook his head. "She just asked me to hang out for the first time in a while, and I said yes. I haven't seen her in like a month." He tilted his head at Hope. "How long have you two been dating?"

"We're not," Hope said quickly. "She's just a witchy fuck-buddy."

"Oh. You're still sleeping with her?"

Hope didn't like where this conversation was going. She also didn't like the feeling growing inside her ribs. She closed her eyes, starting the test spell. MG squeezed her hands a little tighter and she started drawing from him, channeling both their energy into the vial in front of her. MG watched her lips move until she was finished chanting and opened her eyes again.

"Did it work?" MG looked at the vial. He'd realized he didn't even know what the spell was supposed to do.

"Give me that." Hope pointed at a water bottle next to one of her candles. She unscrewed the lid and emptied the entire bottle into the tiny vial. MG leaned in closer. It looked like the vial wasn't even a quarter of the way full, but an entire bottle of water had gone in. Hope tipped it back and refilled the bottle perfectly.

"How did you do that?"

"I made a pocket, as Penelope calls it. A little spot outside of space and time." Hope studied the glass against the candlelight. "I'll need my real one to be a lot bigger though. You think you're up for it?"

"Is it safe?" MG asked.

"I won't hurt you. I'll make sure I draw more from me than you."

MG reached across and took one of her hands back in his. "Is it safe for you?"

Hope grimaced and pulled her hand out of his. "I'm an immortal, indestructible tribrid," she snapped. "I think I'll be fine."

MG leaned back, changing the topic. "Where are you going to put this bigger one?"

Hope pointed at the chunk of clay. "Into that."