October, the season where the trees get stripped of their greenery. Where the leaves turn orange and cascade to the ground like a yellowish waterfall. Upon the newly softened mud were the acorns – from green to pale brown. The air was cooler with a tincture of earthiness, just a hint that brought to the witch's mind the cozy evenings and the variety of warm soups.

The autumn breeze tousled the witch's brunette strands and pinked her cheeks. The warmth that had been in the wind the previous weeks had either evaporated into the sky or leached into the earth. It gave life to the long grass at the side of the road, that were yellow from the season change.

A garden in the forbidden forest, a garden that most Hogwarts's residents do not know about, was the only place of seclusion Florina could think of. Both the witch and the fairy were enjoying each other's company silently as the autumn breeze rustled through the gigantic forest.

For once in two months, the witch's mind wasn't riddled with questions. Either because she got too many to count or she simply left it for fate.

She had finished giving her class for the day, a class that saw the return of wonder and magical dust. The students were overwhelmed with joy that the magical tinker-bell class is back. 

So overwhelmed in fact that they didn't notice how the fairy's dust wasn't shimmering anymore. They didn't even notice the dramatic shift of colour from bright happy gold to sad grey.

Florina turned to her fairy casually only to see the fairy staring back at her without blinking once. The witch automatically smiled at her best friend. Rose's heart immediately melted and she smiled back at her awkwardly lowering her gaze to hide her blushing.

Seeing that, the witch let out a laugh confused by the fairy's embarrassment.

She nudged her shoulder as she continued laughing, "What is it?"

Rose looked back at the ocean blue eyes and swallowed hard. The rays of sunlight were hitting the blue orbs making them shimmer similar to an ocean's surface shimmering in the mid of day. Her rosy cheeks were pink. The witch's hair was flowing elegantly behind her as the autumn breeze flew by.

Rose stopped smiling and said without thinking, "You are very beautiful."

Florina stopped laughing at once but it was replaced with a smile as she nodded. It wasn't the first time the witch heard the fairy say that to her so she accepted it casually. Suddenly, a mischievous expression formed on Florina's face.

She winked, "Do you want to start the 'who is more beautiful contest?' because according to last time, you were certainly the winner."

Rose busted out in laughter. Inwardly however, she was thankful that her friend didn't look too much into her sudden confession.

She nodded. "Well, I came up with some new arguments on why you are more beautiful than me. For one, I don't have either your hair or your eyes. My eyes are brownish hazel and my hair is dirty blonde. Also, unlike your luscious long locks, my hair is extremely short, similar to a lost boy."

Florina, who was familiar with muggle's fairy tales, knew what her fairy meant. However she was stunned by the revelation and widened her eyes in shock.

"Rose..." she said cautiously "you just revealed to me how you look like. Isn't it illegal for you to do so?"

Rose simply shrugged, "It doesn't matter anymore to be honest. It is not like I can get banished twice."

The witch lowered her gaze feeling immediate guilt wash over her. Rose got closer to Florina and held her hand as a silent gesture that she wasn't at fault. Florina accepted that kind gesture as she gave the fairy a weak smile nodding.

"Well," Rose started as she left the witch's hand "if there is anything you need to ask of me, now would be the perfect moment."

Florina scrunched up her face trying to choose one of her million questions. She always regrets the feeling of not knowing what question she should ask when she is given the opportunity. After a while of extreme concentration, Florina made up her mind.

"Back at Augustus's cabin, why did you turn to a demon after I got marked?"

Rose chuckled softly nodding, "What you saw that time Flo wasn't me being turned to a demon. My form was the humans personification of what a demon looks like. In reality, a demon looks nothing like that. That form I turned to is called an Irasane, derived from the Latin word for anger."

Florina nodded but still confusion was itched across her face.

"Florina," Rose said softly to grab the witch's attention "a fairy cannot process many emotions at once. Our bodies were made to process a single emotion at a time. At that moment, all I could feel was intense anger from what had happened, so I turned into an Irasane."

The witch nodded once more. She asked "Well... what happens when you are in that Irasane form?"

"Simply put, I turn into something like a werewolf. My physical body changes when the conditions are met. However unlike a werewolf, I am still sane enough to comprehend my surroundings. I also have control over my transformation."

"What happens if you lose control?"

"I will get stuck in that body form forever. Unfortunately some fairies made that mistake and they are an Irasane until the end of time."

Florina nodded slowly beginning to understand. Suddenly, she recalled the time when Severus asked about the hugging mechanism and how Bubbles was the one to tell him to hug her.

"How did Bubbles know that Severus needed to hug me Rose?"

Rose sighed deeply. "Florina... at the time you were dying. I... When I felt your life gauge decreasing rapidly, I had no choice but to possess Bubbles to talk to the wizards. They could have never heard me otherwise."

"But Rose if I remember correctly, she seemed mad at you at the time. Shouldn't that be something that she needed to help you with?"

The fairy looked grim at the mention of the house elf. She paused for a moment before saying, "Well, the reason she was angry at me was because I turned her into an Irasane with me."

Florina gasped. Rose immediately held the witch's hands, "Florina, I didn't do it on purpose. When I saw you slowly dying and no one is doing anything to save you, I got angry. So naturally when I possessed her, I turned her into an Irasane. It caused her pain, extreme pain. But once I saw Severus hugging you, I left her body immediately. It lasted a few minutes I promise. I didn't intend on hurting her."

"Even though she deserves it," Rose mumbled without stopping herself. Fortunately for her, the witch didn't hear that last part. She nodded.

Rose scotched closer to the witch maintaining intense eye contact. "Are you mad at me?" she whispered.

Florina took a while to reply. She raised her head to meet the demanding eyes and smiled shaking her head, "You had to do what was right at that moment. And you saved my life, I cannot be mad at that."

Rose sighed in relief and immediately held her in a tight embrace. Florina chuckled and hugged her tightly. For the fairy, this embrace felt different unlike all the other times she hugged her best friend. This time she is hugging her and wondering if her Queen's words are true.

Ever since she heard from Nixie that she might harbour romantic feelings for Florina, she has been flustered.

Is it true? she kept asking that question over and over in her head.

"Let's get back to the castle Ro. It's starting to get chilly," Florina whispered softly to her friend "and my arse is one ticket away from being frozen."

But Rose didn't leave the witch when she attempted to free herself from her clutches. In fact, she didn't even hear her. Instead, she kept onto holding Florina tighter while drowning deeper in thought. It got to the point where she was almost choking the witch.

Florina coughed loudly wiggling from the deathly embrace. Rose was immediately brought back to reality and pushed the witch away from her.

"Are you alright?" the fairy put her hand on the witch's back softly. Florina immediately nodded to not extend the fairy's concern further.

"What was that for?" Florina playfully frowned "If you love me that much just say so, there is no need to kill me you know."

The witch was joking to lighten the mood, especially after seeing extreme concern on her friend's face, but the fairy was mortified. She widened her eyes in shock speechless.

---------------

The friends walk back to the castle was silent. Florina kept looking back at her fairy who was hovering slightly over the ground, her head lowered.

Sadness, Florina concluded in her mind.

But what is she feeling sad about? Was it my joke? Jokes like that usually make her bust out laughing.

"Hey Rose," Florina got closer to the fairy and whispered, "Are you alright? Was it something I said that is making you sad?"

The fairy slowly met the blue eyes and gave a weak smile. She shook her head.

"No dear, you could never make me sad. It's...It's just...something I have been wondering about recently."

"Can you tell me what it is? Perhaps I could be of any help?" Florina offered.

Rose smiled, "It's alright Flo, you don't need to concern yourself with silly fairy shenanigans."

The fairy immediately changed the subject "However, there has been something else on my mind ever since we got back. Why hasn't Lucifer taken action towards us yet? By now, Augustus must have met with him and told him about your curse."

Florina shrugged, "Maybe they are still planning their next course of action."

Rose shook her head, "It has been a month Flo. It wouldn't take them that long. Besides, Lucifer knows exactly what he needs to do when an Evilingston gets cursed. He has done it for centuries with all the other Evilingston females –" Rose immediately stopped herself before she revealed too much. Her eyes were widened in shock yet disbelief. She cursed herself for being so reckless.

"What will he need to do Ro?" Florina asked immediately.

Rose sighed giving her friend an apologetic smile. The witch knew that her friend couldn't reveal that information and let out a deep breath to calm herself.

After a few moments of silence Rose whispered "I promise I will tell you everything in due time Flo. Remember that you are still too fragile to know the full truth but yet too strong to let it go."

--------------

When Florina entered her quarters, she saw a silhouette of a man hovering on something resting atop her desk. The man however wasn't solid but rather seemed to be a glistening ghost.

The fairy came behind the witch, who stopped at the doorway puzzled, and immediately smiled when she recognized who the mysterious ghost was.

"Davies!" she exclaimed as she ran to hug the ghost who returned her embrace chuckling.

"I am sorry it has been a long time my friend," he nodded at Florina who sighed in relief.

"It has been a month Davies," Rose playfully scolded "You said you will come to us as soon as possible, Where have you been? And what are the news, are they good?"

"Oh God Prim..." the ghost's face suddenly went grim as he held her at arm's distance. He noticed the fairy's grey dust. "Did she..."

Rose lowered her gaze giving him a weak smile. She nodded answering his question. "Yes Davies, I got banished. Nixie didn't take the news too kindly."

Davies's immediate anger was evident as he tried to calm himself. "Did you tell her that Florina isn't a threat? That she won't turn evil... it's just reckless for her to take immediate action without even considering the possibility that –"

"They are terrified Davies," Rose smiled softly appreciating his concern for her "SHE is terrified. We are fairies, we are not exactly famous for making the right decisions at the right times. She thought the best course of action was to banish me."

"But that won't solve anything!" Davies exclaimed "That is just very uncharacteristic of Nixie Prim. Nixie is a very wise Queen, she takes into consideration the pros and cons of any situation before she makes her decisions –"

"Yet she immediately decided to banish me. It didn't even take her a second Davies," Rose whispered as a silent tears cascaded on her cheeks.

"Oh my dear..." Davies brought the distraught fairy for another embrace patting her on the back.

Florina too got closer to the couple and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Davies gave a sad smile to Florina reading her mind. He said gently, "It wasn't your fault either my good lady. It was destined to happen and it did. We cannot duel now on the what ifs and focus more on what needs to be done."

"You are right Davies," Rose nodded in agreement as she slowly left the ghost's embrace. "She is planning to do something to Florina but she hasn't made a decision yet."

"What?" Florina turned to the fairy confused.

Rose gave her friend an apologetic smile, "I am sorry I didn't tell you this earlier Flo. I didn't want to frighten you my dear. And I was waiting for Davies's arrival so we can make a decision."

The fairy turned to Davies, "She might...she might do it Davies."

"She might do what –"

"Are you sure Rose?" Davies gave the fairy a serious look.

"I...no I am not sure. But we need to be prepared in case she does. I will not let them get close to Florina."

A cough broke the seriousness in the room and made all three jump. The cough was abruptly followed by a sneeze.

"Sorry Miss Woods... can anyone PLEASE close the window? I am on the verge of getting a cold." The voice – which belonged to an extremely irritated Markov – spoke when it was followed by a series of sneezes.

Davies looked back at Florina and chuckled. "Allow me good lady."

He flew to the open window and closed it shut. He looked down at the book that rested on Florina's desk and smiled warmly at it.

"You might not know who I am even though you have always been hiding in my cave for centuries. My name is Davies Agrippa." The ghost introduced himself holding the book in his hands.

Markov red eyes widened and immediately avoided the ghost's gaze in contempt.

Davies chuckled, "Oh I see. You still don't trust any Agrippa huh? Well my dear friend you can trust me, I am different from all my ancestors. I don't yearn for a treasure that brought doom on my entire family. You do sense that I don't have greed within me, don't you Markov?"

The book remained silent. After a few moments he nodded but still avoided the ghost's gaze.

Both the fairy and the witch took notice of the book's peculiar behaviour.

"Markov..." Florina started as she went to them, "Davies is with us, you can trust him. He is a very good friend of Ro... of a friend that I trust very much. If she trusts him then I definitely do too."

Markov remained resolute as ever avoiding eye contact with them. Without a warning, he squirmed out of the ghost's hands to let himself free.

Davies sighed sadly and gently placed the book on the desk allowing him to hop towards the witch. With a leap, the book laid in the witch's open hands as if he was a baby being cradled by his mother. He narrowed his eyes at the ghost who continued to smile sadly at him.

Davies shook his head softly, "Did you see the results of my families actions Florina? Even the non-living beings hate us. That's how messed up our family is."

Florina nodded giving him an apologetic smile. "I am very sorry for Markov's behaviour. He tends to not trust anyone ever," she suddenly chuckled to herself "reminds me of a certain individual to be honest. He too is paranoid when it comes to strangers."

"Do you by any chance mean the gentleman who kept his wand directed at me and refused to put it down back in my cave?" Davies asked softly.

Florina eyes were wide as saucers. "Yes!" she immediately exclaimed "you still remember him?"

"Well of course," Davies chuckled "You sometimes forget that Agrippas have eidetic memories."

Florina gave a chuckle of her own and nodded. He shrugged, "But even if I didn't possess the steel memory, I would have still remembered him. Let's just say he, in particular, is quite... memorable."

The trio sat down in Florina's living room. Once they were seated, Rose began, "So what are the news Davies?"

"Well... I have good news and I have bad ones."

"The good news is my brother was sent to Hell by Lucifer –"

"What?!" both the witch and fairy said in unison. Markov's eyes widened like saucers for a moment but he remained silent.

Davies nodded calmly. "But why would Lucifer do that?" Rose shot like a bullet.

The ghost shrugged, "No idea. All I know is he did something that he shouldn't do and was sent to hell for it. My spy couldn't get the full information unfortunately. He barely made it back to my cave to share this news."

"And the bad news?" Florina asked cautiously.

He turned to her and took a deep breath, "He...uh... he will lead the cursing ritual himself –"

Rose gasped but Florina looked between the both of them in confusion, "What is the cursing ritual?" she turned to Rose.

The fairy fought with the tears that began to form in her eyes with all her might. After a few moments, she faced her friend, her eyes watering, "He will finalize the curse that is on you himself. As well as give you the... the duties that you will need to perform for him as a cursed Evilingston. He will give you the thirteen commandments that I have been telling you about."

"The curse's rules?" Florina asked in confirmation and her fairy nodded.

Rose turned to the ghost, "But he never leads a cursing ritual. Usually he sends one of his minions to do it, why is he doing it himself?"

"I am sorry to disappoint my dear friend, but I have no idea. That is all I got unfortunately." Davies held his head low avoiding the two eyes that stared back at him.

Florina said softly, "Thanks for informing us anyways."

"Davies," Rose spoke "I need another spy on Nixie. I need to find out what is she planning to do with Florina. If my doubts are correct, we need to immediately gear Florina up for what's coming. Nixie needs to see that Florina is not evil and will never turn to the evil side."

"How can you be so sure?" Florina whispered as she fiddled with her fingers.

"What?" Rose asked in surprise.

"Unfortunately I have to ask the same question Prim," Davies said at once "Looking at the past events, all the females that were confronted with the cursing ritual turned to the evil side. They all sided with Lucifer. What's to stop Lucifer from doing the same to Florina over here?"

"Davies!" Rose exclaimed. "She will be fine, I am certain. She will survive this ritual just like she survived all the things that happened before. Have some faith in her! She will –"

Florina interrupted in a whisper "Why do you –"

"I just know Goddammit!" Rose stood up her silver skin turning yellowish red. She was fuming and her nostrils were flaring up. She was trying her best to calm down the one emotion she felt at that moment. Anger.

Both the two individuals went mute at once. They gave the fairy uncertain glances fearing that her anger might transform her into an Irasane.

A few minutes has passed with the fairy taking calming breaths. She finally spoke, "Please Davies. Could you do that for me?"

"Of course Prim Rose." He said at once getting up "anything for you my dear friend and Miss Florina."

"Thank you Davies," Rose gave him a weak smile nodding.

Davies wished them farewell and flew to the window. With a sad smile, he whispered, "I wish I could see you both again soon. Hopefully at a better time."

************

"Hello there Markov."

The book, who was snoring on Florina's desk, was startled by the smooth voice that called him.

"Who is ..." he trailed off when his eyes laid on the being. He was stunned.

The entity smirked, "It has been long since I saw you last. When was the last time?" the question was only rhetorical before the entity smirked "oh right...when Stella had you last. Poor lady, she didn't get a chance to read you and set herself free. The fool Augustus took you away from me. But not anymore my dear, you are mine forever until you spill out the treasure."

Markov hopped backwards, "Step back! I... I warned Florina. You...you cannot take me. I...I know everything. You cannot take me away from her as long as I am under Evilingston's protection –"

The mysterious being laughed maniacally startling Markov. "You fool! Only Lucifer cannot get a hand on you. But you always forget that I am different than him. Than anyone in fact."

When the book remained silent, the entity scoffed "Oh come on Markov, I thought you were smarter than that. Don't you have an entire chapter on beings like me? I am tormented, doomed for all eternity. Why would anyone think to protect you from me?"

The entity laid their hand on the book patting it down softly like a child being comforted by their father. That peculiar behaviour didn't last long however and Markov was held tightly by the being.

"Shh...come to papa my precious child. I will keep you safe. No one will ever take you away from me again, I will make sure of it."

With that, the entity along with the book disappeared out of the window.