NOX° SIRIUS BLACK

Chapter Forty-One

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I always am." Calypso winked and the pair of them ran off to their next class.

That night, Calypso sat in her room while Dorcas worked on her makeup for Slughorn's party. Cassandra had come to the room to talk with Calypso about Quidditch and decided to stick around since she was good at doing hair while Pandora lounged on the ground, painting her toes black.

"So, Panda," Dorcas said as she rummaged through her bag filled with all sorts of Muggle makeup products. "What's been going on with you and Xenophilius?"

Calypso glanced over at Pandora from the corner of her eye and saw the girl's face turn bright red.

"Oh — um — well — er —"

"Xenophilius as in Xenophilius Lovegood?" Cassandra asked.

"How many other Xenophilius's do you know?" Dorcas asked. Cassandra shrugged and stopped flipping through the copy of Witch Weekly she was reading to turn to Pandora.

"You're dating Xenophilius Lovegood?" Cassandra asked excitedly.

"We're not dating!" Pandora said quickly. "We — well — we went on one date, but we didn't do anything except kiss on the cheek and share a slice of cake. That was nearly two months ago and everything has remained strictly friendly since then."

"But, do you like him?" Calypso asked. "Because he obviously likes you."

Dorcas coughed something that sounded a lot like "you're one to talk".

"I . . ." Pandora let out an exasperated sigh. "I just have plans, you know? I have this whole life that I imagine for myself after I leave Hogwarts and it involves creating spells and winning awards for my inventions and traveling the world. I feel like if I start dating Xenophilius now that it won't be long before I fall completely in love with him and that'll just make doing all of that so much harder."

"I'm kind of in the same position you are." Cassandra said. The three girls turned to her. "It's not exactly the same because I don't have anyone I'm interested in, but I've wanted to become a Healer ever since I was a little girl. It's been the one thing in my life I've ever been completely certain about and I'm always scared that someone will come along and make all of that harder, but my mum always says that when you meet someone who feels like they could be that someone, you shouldn't try to fight it. Just go with it and see what happens. If it doesn't work out, that's fine, you'll live, but you don't want to spend the rest of your life wondering if you passed up this chance at an epic love."

Pandora sat in a thoughtful silence.

"Your mum should write a book." Dorcas said. Cassandra laughed.

"She does, actually. Lately, she's been working on the Martin Miggs comics." Cassandra said. Calypso's eyes nearly bulged out of her head.

"WHAT?" She exclaimed, quite loudly. Her and Dorcas's sleeping roommate, Alessia, shushed her. "Your mum writes Martin Miggs comics?"

"I take it you're a fan."

"Are you kidding?" Dorcas laughed. Even Pandora chuckled. "Calypso is obsessed with Martin Miggs."

"No, no, no. I'm obsessed with Bartholomew Barkins and Poppy Pixie. Poppy Pixie is my favorite character of all time. I dressed up as her for Halloween one year too." Calypso said excitedly. Her friends smiled endearingly at her.

"Do you want me to let you in on a little secret about Poppy Pixie and Bartholomew Barkins?" Cassandra asked. Calypso nodded her head eagerly. "They get together in the next edition."