Briallen Bevin and the Clocktower Guard

Chapter 12: The Verriatis Potion

She could hardly move.

She had only barely made it through the two weeks following Halloween. It was a Friday now but she couldn't fight it any longer - she couldn't wait for the weekend. She had to give in. Her head was pounding and every little noise echoed loudly inside her ears. Her muscles felt like they were on fire and her bones felt like jelly. She writhed under the covers of her bed and moaned, "Tell the Professors I'm sick, please?"

Noelle pulled on her outer robes and then went over to Briallen. Cass was already standing next to her, looking more intrigued than concerned as she examined Briallen's chalky, sweaty complexion.

"I think we should tell Mrs Krause too," suggested Noelle, her brow furrowed with worry. "You don't look like you've just got a cold or flu..."

Briallen moaned again and shook her head. "I just need some sleep and I'm sure I'll be fine..."

"I have some Restorative Draft in my cupboard," said Cass quietly, as if she might get in trouble for mentioning it. Briallen didn't even bother asking Cass where she had gotten a Restorative Draft, or even why she had it - she just nodded that would like some.

Cass disappeared into the bathroom to get the potion, while Noelle pulled a small trash can from near the door over to Briallen's bedside. "In case you have to throw up," she explained, pointing down to the can. "And if you're not better by lunch when I come to check on you, I am getting a nurse."

Briallen no longer had the strength to acknowledge her friend's statement, only to stare at the room's ceiling. Cass came back with her Restorative Draft and poured a little into Briallen's mouth. Briallen thought she heard Noelle ask Cass why she had the Restorative Draft in the first place but instead of a response, Briallen, strangely, heard the beating of drums.

She woke up hours later, coated in a thin layer of sweat. But she had energy now - at least, enough energy to get out of bed, pull on a pair of jeans, a sweater, and her house slippers, and wander shakily down to the common room which was luckily empty at the moment. She had no idea what time it was but classes were obviously still in session. She'd woken up at the perfect time; she didn't even want to know what she looked like, but she imagined she more closely resembled a zombie than her normal self, and she didn't want the attention her appearance would surely bring.

With some difficulty, she pulled open Sir Lawrence of Woodcroft's painting and stepped out into the portrait hall.

"Oh, dear!" cried Sir Lawrence, swinging shut behind her. "You look like you might be coming down with a case of the Dragon Pox! Or, if I didn't know any better, you look a bit like my cousin Aggie when she came down with Geleftima Flu! Of course, that's just not possible..."

Briallen ignored the portrait and went down the stairs and straight into the library. Mrs Shan was busy collecting books to be shelved and didn't even notice Briallen as she shuffled around the front desk like she were looking for brains to eat. Briallen turned right and went up the short flight of stairs behind the check-out desk, and passed twelve rows of books before finally stopping at a bookshelf labeled 'TT 650 - TV 72' on the side. She walked to end of the row, sat down on the floor and fell backwards.

"Are you feeling alright?" asked Lucan, who had silently followed her down the aisles and watched her fall to the ground.

She opened her red-rimmed eyes to see him kneeling over her. Instantly he pulled away, flushing because she'd caught him looking her over, but he didn't leave. Briallen sat up and rubbed her eyes. "No, I'm sick," she snapped.

He leaned away from her before asking, "With what?"

"I don't know. Flu, strep... Sir Larry suggested I might have Dragon Pox or something called glefpima flu? Which was supposed to be a joke I guess, but I've never heard of it so I didn't get it..."

"Do you mean Geleftima Flu? That's not possible. You have to do a lot of time-traveling to get that," said Lucan with a small smile. "And there's no way you have a time-turner." Briallen stared at Lucan. His smile faded and he stared back, wide-eyed. "You don't actually..."

"I found it on my bed weeks ago! What was I supposed to do with it? Turn it in to my grandpa? I had this crazy schedule and I just thought, at first, I'd use it to make time for homework, but then I needed more time to sleep-"

"This is one of your weird jokes, isn't it?" he said, standing up and taking a step backwards. Briallen, too tired to keep her secret any longer, reached into her sweater and pulled out what looked like a small hour-glass attached to a silver chain. Lucan looked around discreetly to make sure they were alone and then dropped to his knees and began to whisper, "You're insane! Aurors throw people in Onznor for messing with those things!"

"I'm just a kid, Lucan, they're not going to send me to prison for using a time-turner that was given to me," she said, annoyed.

"Maybe not, but you would definitely get into a lot of trouble, Briallen. More trouble than you've ever been in before. Time-turners are severely restricted for good reason. Oh, in the name of Merlin... that means it's very likely you do have the Geleftima Flu." He stared at the books in front of them, thinking, when he noticed what section they were in. "This is the time-travel section, Briallen."

"Of course - I'm not an idiot. I knew this wasn't just a regular flu. I came here looking for answers, preferably a cure." Lucan was already pulling books off the shelf. He pulled one off, looked at the cover, and with a snort of derision, put it back. "Hey, we need to look at all of these books to see what they say about remedies for gafftima flu!" cried Briallen, removing the book Lucan had put back.

"Don't bother with anything by Obdura Hatheart. I've met her a few times - she's Cora's grandmother - the woman is absolutely insane. Every single one of her books is her ranting about the evils of time-travel. They won't have anything helpful in them," explained Lucan. "She doesn't bother with facts."

He was scanning the index of a book larger than the dictionary titled Side Effects of Time-Travel. Most of the books on time-travel were large and Briallen didn't have the muscle strength necessary to go through them. Obdura's books, however, were small paperbacks, making them much easier for Briallen to read through.

"Time Peregrination Paradoxes, Why I Hate Time Travel, Time Travel is the Devil's Leisure Activity..." read Briallen as she skimmed the Obdura Hatheart titles. She groaned, realizing Lucan was right because none of those titles sounded at all useful to her situation.

"Here, I found the passage on the Geleftima Flu," said Lucan, putting a dictionary-sized book down on the floor in front of Briallen so that she could read it with him. "There was once only one cure for this unique illness - plenty of bed rest and the cessation of all time-traveling activity. However, in 1825, an ambitious young warlock by the name of Abel Fewter discovered previously unknown magical properties of several stones, including the youth restorative properties of agate. With this new knowledge - and plenty of creativity! - young Fewter created the first ever Verriatis Potion, and marketed it as a cure-all for all physical time-travel ailments, particularly the paradoxical aging process."

Shocked by what she read next, Briallen took over reading the rest of the passage aloud. "The potion proved so popular that incidents of time-travel increased ten-fold! The Ministry of Magic was forced to restrict sale of the potion, until finally they banned it outright in late 1828. The recipe for this potion is now kept under lock and key in the Department of Dangerous Esoterics, along with many of Fewter's other inventions, though one can still find dark alley peddlers claiming to have the potion for sale - whether they have the real deal, or a dangerous generic substitute is unknown, as the Ministry typically finds these peddlers before anyone is stupid enough to buy the potion from them."

Briallen fell back against the wall, brought her knees up, and hid her head between them in resignation.

"We should tell your grandfather," said Lucan seriously. Briallen was shocked. Lucan was the one person she believed was least likely to want to turn to Cal Bevin, and that was why she shared her secret with him. Lucan seemed to know what she was thinking as he added, "He's the only one who could get the recipe and make the potion for you. It's either that or you need to stop using that thing."

She clutched the time-turner protectively. "No! To both choices! We can't tell my grandpa, because he would pitch a fit, and I can't stop using it because it's the only reason I'm able to do all that I do."

"Find. Another. Way." Lucan had his teeth bared in anger, and kept his black eyes locked on Briallen's own, waiting for her to argue further with him.

"Same to you!" she cried, jumping up. Briallen wasn't in her right mind to begin with, and the stress of her current situation had made her even more unstable. Clutching the time-turner tightly, she ran past Lucan and down the aisle.

Cursing, Lucan followed, and the two began a wild chase through the library. It was by pure luck that they weren't caught by Mrs Shan, or anyone else for that matter. It was also lucky that Lucan managed to catch Briallen quickly, though only because of her exhaustion. They struggled over the time-turner when he caught her, but Lucan was stronger and was able to yank it off her neck.

Briallen yelped in pain as the chain snapped against her skin and, in defense, she took a swing. Her fist connected with Lucan's nose. His head snapped back and he lost his footing and tumbled to the ground. Briallen jumped on top of him, trying to pry the time-turner from his fingers. As a last resort she lowered her head and bit into his fist. Lucan somehow kept from crying out in pain himself as he shoved Briallen off of him.

The two of them sat still just then, their backs against bookshelves, and glared at each other, breathing heavily. Lucan's nose and hand were bleeding and Briallen had a trace of his blood on her lips. She wiped it away with the sleeve of her shirt.

"You're not thinking clearly!" growled Lucan. "If you keep using this thing as irresponsibly you are, it will kill you! I mean, really, look at yourself!" She knew he was right, and that fact only made her even more angry. "I'm keeping this for now, and we're going to Mrs Krause."

"And what'll we tell her?" sneered Briallen.

"Lie to her! That's something you're good at, isn't it?" he snapped back.

The silence and the glaring began again. Then, without a word Lucan stood up, helped Briallen to stand, and with her arm over his shoulder, helped her up to the nurse's office before classes let out for afternoon break and anyone saw them.

O * O * O * O

It was two in the morning, Sunday, and Briallen was wide awake. She'd been in the infirmary all weekend and had slept for more than a day and a half, only just now waking up. Mrs Krause nearly had a heart attack when Lucan brought Briallen into her wing on Friday morning, insisting she had never seen anything like it, and suggesting that November was a cursed month for Briallen.

Against her will, Briallen had been forced to take several potions and she remembered nothing else until she woke up an hour ago. On her bedside table were several 'Get well soon!' cards, all of which made a joke about how she was always in the infirmary, except for Hayden's which was really very sad. He had also left her several gifts, such as flowers, stuffed animals, and candy (though Mrs Krause put a note on the candy explaining that she'd spelled the box shut and wouldn't have it opened until Briallen was well again).

And Marisol had been thoughtful enough to collect her homework for her, which is what she should have been doing just then. But, of course Briallen wasn't doing her homework. After plenty of rest, inspiration had struck - she had to work on her and Lucan's first clue!

The answer was nagging her at the back of her brain. She felt she had all the pieces of the puzzle but she just didn't know how to put them together to make a clear picture. She still felt scattered as well, from her frequent use of the time-turner, and from all the potions Mrs Krause had been pouring into her all weekend.

'I'm as omphalos in shape and size,' she thought, tapping her pencil on a page in her notebook. The page was covered in random thoughts and doodles relating the clue. She wrote down all her thoughts as soon as they came to her, planning to make sense of them later. And Lucan said an omphalos is a giant stone pedestal with religious affiliations... but what does that mean? ... Fewter, Fewter, Fewter - I know this name, why do I know this name? How do I know this name? He invented the Verriatis Potion... and something else. He had something else...

She didn't know if it were two thoughts or memories blending into one as she thought of the warlock Abel Fewter. Whenever she heard his name now she felt a deep desire for the potion he created, the potion she knew would allow her to go back to using her time-turner.

Briallen dropped her head in her hands. She had no idea how she was going to cope with her life without the time-turner, she had become so dependent on its use. She couldn't get it back from Lucan though and she knew it. He was more clever than she was, and just as stubborn. She had to find a way to prove to him that she could use it responsibly... but, she reasoned, that would require the Verriatis Potion.

There had to be something else she could do, until she found a way to get her hands on that potion. Briallen pulled her book bag up onto her bed and began rifling through it. Her fingers found the soft, warm leather quickly, and she gripped the day-planner her grandfather had given her weeks ago and pulled it out. She flipped through its pages, which were all blank. She hadn't used it once.

Well, better late than never, she thought as she began making notes next to dates and times with everything she could remember off the top of her head. She'd show Lucan she didn't need the time-turner and then he would definitely return it to her.

It was rightfully hers after all.

"Briallen, really," whispered Mrs Krause, walking into the infirmary in her nightgown. "You should be sleeping!"

Briallen didn't bother arguing with the nurse; she knew there was no point because Mrs Krause always won. She willingly downed the two potions the nurse gave her and then lied down on her pillow. Mrs Krause put all of her things carefully into her book bag for her and put the book bag next to the nightstand. With a quick kiss on the forehead, and a wish for a good night's sleep, Mrs Krause returned to wherever she had come from and Briallen fell back asleep.

When she woke up next, it was early Monday morning and she was in her own bed back in her dorm room. Cass was standing over her again, but the girl was still in her pajamas, which let Briallen know that she had plenty of time before classes began. "The nurse just dropped you off. She said you're well enough to go to class, but you need to take it easy for a while... and she had an argument with Conall in the common room." Cass paused to chuckle quietly. "He was trying to come up here to get you for your dawn Quodpot practice!"

With Cass's last words, Briallen shot up and jumped out of bed. "I forgot I have practice today!"

"Don't even try to go out to the pitch. Mrs Krause sent Nurse Verena out there to make sure you don't try to go to practice," explained Cass, still smiling. "By the way, what did she say you have?"

Briallen slammed shut her dresser drawer that held her Quodpot uniform. Kimmy mumbled for her to be quiet, and then went back to sleep. Quietly, she began collecting her school uniform and her shower caddy, all the while ignoring Cass's question. On her way to the bathroom, Briallen gave Cass a pointed look, and the other girl shrugged her shoulders in response.

Since she didn't have to worry about Quodpot practice that morning, but she was already up, Briallen decided to take an incredibly long shower. By the time she was finished and dressed, half her roommates had already left for breakfast. Chante left a note on her bed explaining that it was rude to hog the shower. Briallen crumpled it and threw it in the trash can before grabbing her book bag and heading down to the dining hall.

Hayden was waiting for her at the Withers table, and was whispering to Toby who sat next to him. Conall stopped her before she reached them though. The entire Quodpot team sat together, and they were soaked and covered in wet mud.

"Final game is next week, the day before Thanksgiving! You going to be well enough to fly by then?" demanded Conall. Briallen looked right at Rex, who was watching her closely, his eyes narrowed, and she nodded. He frowned. "Good. That jumpy nurse says you can't start practicing again until Friday, though, so you're going to be busy this weekend, learning our new plays."

"I'll help her," said Benjamin with a sigh, but he winked at Briallen.

"Me too," added Mele, smiling kindly.

"Good," said Conall gruffly. "Wenlock's been practicing their throws so we need all our good arms out on the field."

Briallen nodded, and then paused to see if her Captain had anything else to add. He didn't. She leaned back on her heels, told Benjamin and Mele she'd see them later, and went to finally join Hayden and Toby.

"You still look dead," said Toby bluntly. She sat across from the two boys, and felt Hayden's foot tapping her own just then. She looked up at him; he wore an apologetic grin and shook his head.

"Well I had the flu bad," explained Briallen before sticking her tongue out at her friend. She then helped herself to a large helping of eggs and grits. She suddenly felt as if she were starving. "Where's Marisol?"

"Probably still sleeping. She sat by your side most of the night. She was really worried."

"Us too," added Hayden quickly.

That was how the rest of Briallen's breakfast went, and the rest of her day: people telling her how worried they had been for her, and how sickly she still looked. All of her professors let her sit out practical demonstrations, if they had any, and excused her late homework.

At first she liked all the attention but as the day went on it became too much. Especially when Ricky Guffs and Rudy Brodzki ran into her in the hall and lied to her about how they hoped she'd get better soon. Under Rudy's arm, she'd noticed a roll of parchment labeled 'floor plans,' and she realized that she and Lucan were likely far behind in the game. Marisol, shockingly, didn't even bother asking Briallen how it was she knew two upper level Almericks. As soon as the two boys had gone, Marisol went right back to telling Briallen about a prank she'd played on Amon Qusay, one of Dante's friends. Briallen laughed when expected and even threw out a few ideas of what else they could do to Dante and his friends.

When afternoon break finally arrived, Briallen was relieved. While she hadn't done much, physically, that morning, the mental exertion needed to allow everybody to question and coddle her had exhausted her.

"I like the idea of pixies in his underwear drawer," said Marisol thoughtfully, as the two of them left their Ancient Runes class. "But is it too cliché?"

"Does it matter?" asked Briallen, absent-mindedly. Up ahead she noticed Hayden walking in their direction and in his arms he held a picnic basket.

"I guess not. I'd just like to try something a little more clever before we resort to pixies." Marisol wrinkled her nose. Then she noticed Hayden and released a very long 'aww' sound.

Hayden stopped in front of them, blushing. "I thought you might like to get away from all these people for a bit, and have a picnic..."

"It sounds nice, Hayden, but the weather-" Briallen paused to wave a hand at the window they stood next to. Outside, it was hailing, and there was a thick layer of frost on the ground.

"I was thinking about an inside picnic. We could go to the BBN office. It's always empty until about one. And it has a fireplace, so we'll keep warm," he suggested hopefully.

Marisol, wearing a large grin, elbowed Briallen in the ribs when she didn't immediately answer and then said, "She'd love to!"

Briallen glared playfully at her friend, who was already walking away from the couple. Hayden was no longer blushing - he hardly blushed around her anymore - and held out his hand for Briallen. As soon as she accepted it he began to lead her to the Bring Bergamot News office.

Once they arrived at the office Hayden made small talk about the weather and classes while he set up their picnic in front of the fireplace. It wasn't anything fancy, to Briallen's slight dismay, and consisted of tea, ham sandwiches, and baked beans. They settled down on the rug the picnic was spread out on, and helped themselves to the food.

"My friends keep telling me they're seeing you around the school with Lucan Stone all the time," said Hayden suddenly. He was glaring at his sandwich.

She grimaced. Briallen had been spending a lot of time with Lucan, while trying to figure out the first clue for Reynard's game. But it certainly wasn't like she spent every waking moment with him - and most of the times she'd met up with him she'd been using her time-turner, and so she technically had an alibi.

Briallen didn't tell Hayden any of this, however. She shook her head and said, "Not all the time."

"I don't like him very much," he mumbled in response. Briallen translated that in her mind as meaning that Hayden didn't want her spending time with Lucan at all. He was far too nice to be quite so blunt though.

The fire crackled loudly but neither of them moved. Briallen chewed slowly, and then swallowed with difficulty. Suddenly, she sat up, leaned over their plates, and quickly kissed Hayden. He froze. After he'd first kissed her on Halloween Briallen hid from him for a few days, too embarrassed to look him in the eye. Eventually she made the effort to see him again, and had even let him kiss her two more times. But this was the first time that she had actually kissed him. And it was more than enough to shut him up about Lucan.

Hayden wasn't blushing exactly, but he had red splotches all over his face and neck, and he stared at Briallen. Abruptly, he dropped his sandwich, leaned over their plates, and kissed her back. Only he didn't pull away immediately, and his kiss wasn't quite as innocent as Briallen's had been. Briallen had to push him away. She was going to shout at him about the way he had tried to kiss her but when she saw how worried, and just a little scared, he looked, she took a deep breath and gave him a small smile.

"Don't do that again," she whispered as nicely as she could, hiding her anger. He released the deep breath he'd been holding and nodded shyly.

They ate the rest of their lunch quietly.

Later on at dinner, when Marisol asked Briallen how the picnic went, Briallen said casually, "It was okay."

Marisol didn't press any further. After dinner, Briallen told her friends she wanted to go for a walk in the hedge maze, alone. They reluctantly agreed not to accompany her, Marisol taking more convincing than the rest, and reminded her she had to be back by eight o'clock, which is when their curfew began.

Everything Briallen had experienced that day had merely been an obstacle - an obstacle on her way to accomplishing the next step in her plan to get her time-turner back from Lucan. Once she'd wrapped her scarf tightly around her neck, tucked it into her coat, and put on her gloves and boots, Briallen set out on her mission.

It had stopped hailing outside but the wind was still blowing and howling, biting at Briallen's nose and cheeks as she stumbled down the road to The Village. Her boots crunched through the icy grass and she slipped a few times on the frost, but she was determined and refused to turn back.

The streets of The Village were deserted, with everyone obviously deciding to stay indoors to avoid the nasty weather. Briallen's eyes were watering in the wind and so she had to walk with her head down most of the way. Witches and wizards in the stores she passed noticed her but thought nothing of her. They were used to Bergamot students sneaking into town when they weren't supposed to and had learned to accept it, especially since the students usually spent all their pocket money at the shops in town.

But Briallen wasn't looking to spend her pocket money in the shops. For two and a half months Briallen hadn't spend any of her allowance - she had been too busy to do so. Her savings weren't much and she suspected she didn't have nowhere near enough to afford a Verriatis Potion, but she expected to make a deal along with the gold. She thought there must be something she possessed that would be worth the cost of an illegal potion.

She stood outside of Briar's Brooms now, the shop where she had bought her Nova Flare. It was closed currently, its windows dark and its entrance perfect for Briallen to lurk within inconspicuously. She eyed the end of Seedy Alley.

Once the sun went down Seedy Alley came to life with peddlers offering all sorts of unusual (and dark) items, and they were rumored to offer not so legal items as well when given a specific request. The customers, and even the peddlers themselves, looked remarkably unsavory, and even though it was a Monday night there were many of them about the strangely quiet alley.

Reminding herself that she needed the Verriatis Potion, Briallen put on her best no-nonsense face and strode determinedly down Trice Cross and into the alley. There were about a dozen canvas caravans and carts about the alley and a few more times that of customers.

There were no light posts in the alley - the only light came from dim paper lanterns strung up along the tall wrought iron fencing that enclosed most of the alley. The lanterns' high, dim light was barely enough to illuminate the carts and people under them, and Briallen found her confidence wavering as she strode past many shadowy nooks and corners where she suspected a villain could easily hide.

"Manticore teeth? Or perhaps a splinter from the wand of Morgan le Fay for the little lady? You'd be the most popular girl in school with such a splinter," croaked a man in a dulled top hat and a patched suit jacket. He had a scraggly beard and matching hair that was going gray, but still Briallen couldn't guess his age. The man seemed to be in charge of the cart closest to Briallen - and closest to the alley exit.

"I'm looking for something else," she whispered. She was leaning close to him to avoid being overheard, which was actually quite difficult; not only was she the youngest person in the alley, she was also the cleanest, and both traits caused her to stand out in a place full of old and dirty witches and warlocks. While they all put on the pretense of going on nonchalantly about their business, their eyes followed her every move and their ears picked up her every word.

The man in the top hat grinned, and Briallen saw he was missing many of his teeth and those that he did have were sharp and misshapen. "And what might that be, pray tell?"

"A potion-" began Briallen.

"A potion, eh? A love potion, perhaps, for a handsome older lad? Or maybe a potion to make your memory absolutely perfect, so you needn't study for those awful exams!"
"Um - no, actually, I'm looking for a... a Verriatis Potion." Briallen whispered the potion's name as quietly as she possibly could.

The man in the top hat leaned back, stuck his thumbs under his suspenders, and frowned. "Ah, now one of those, little lady, is a bit more difficult to procure... and bit more expensive."

Briallen pulled out her bag of gold from inside her jacket, showed it to the man and said quickly, "I have fifty galleons here! And I'm willing to trade if that's not enough!"

"No, she's not," said a gruff voiced wizard in hooded robes as he pushed her hand away from the peddler, and then protectively put his arm around here. She growled at the stranger but then she looked up into his hood and, recognizing him, gasped. "Let's get out of here."

Voluntarily, and happily, Briallen followed the hooded wizard. They walked through town unseen, until they were in front of a small stone cottage next door to Teddies & Toys Galore, the shop Briallen had run into the year before after getting lost in the north wood. She didn't know why he'd taken her to this innocuous little cottage but she followed him to the front door. He didn't knock, he simply pulled out his wand, waved it, and the door opened and they went in.

They entered a cozy living room, overdone in red and gold floral patterns, lit only by the slowly burning wood in the fireplace. The hooded wizard took Briallen's coat and scarf and hung them on a coat rack by the front door, and then removed his winter robes and hung them as well.

His dark, curly hair was slightly longer, almost touching his shoulders, and he looked as if he hadn't shaved in a week. There were visible bags under his eyes, random bruises, and healing cuts on his forearms and hands. He looked older than his eighteen years, but his eyes retained their youthful kindness and when he smiled at Briallen, she knew he meant it.

"Gavin..." began Briallen. "I tried owling you over the summer but Leto couldn't find you, and then I asked Mindy and Ashley how you were doing and they said you were being home schooled..."

"I am. Mr and Mrs Wadle are teaching me," explained Gavin. Briallen instinctually looked around for the elderly couple. She saw shadows through the doorway leading to the kitchen. The Wadles could clearly hear them but were trying to offer some kind of privacy at least. "As for why you couldn't reach me... I was in Ministry housing and they didn't allow outside communications while I underwent my integration training. They wanted to send me to a special school but Professor Bevin and a friend of his, Professor Dumbledore, spoke to the Minister on my behalf and convinced him to allow the Wadles to take me in for my last year."

"Integration training? Were you allowed contact with Kara at least?"

Gavin cleared his throat and looked visibly uncomfortable. "She and I aren't seeing each other anymore," he said, trying to sound aloof. Briallen could see it was a sensitive topic and didn't ask anymore questions about his and Kara's relationship.

"How did you find me in the alley? Were you there looking for something too?" asked Briallen. She was changing the topic, but it was to a topic she wanted to discuss anyway.

"Yes, I was - I was looking for you. I've been keeping an eye on you because I know how easily you find trouble."

"Why didn't you just come out and say hello then?"

"You were busy. And I was asked not to make direct contact with you until I absolutely had to. I figured preventing you from spending all your gold and possessions on a peddler who couldn't really get you what you need was a pretty good reason to approach you," he said with a smile.

Briallen wasn't smiling. She wanted direct, clear answers. "How do you know that?"

"Trust me - you're not going to find a potion that's been illegal for over a hundred fifty years in an alleyway less than five miles from your school."

"I need that potion though, and I had no other choice."

"We know, sweetie," said Mrs Wadle from the kitchen doorway. She looked just as she had when she found Briallen, lost and tearful, a year ago. She even wore the same pink robes. In her hands she held a beaker of clear bubbling liquid that was giving off turquoise tendrils of smoke. "That's why we made you some."

She brought Briallen the beaker and handed it over carefully. Briallen looked between Mrs Wadle and Gavin to see if they were serious. Neither of them looked amused: Mrs Wadle had worry lines between her brows, and Gavin was frowning and glaring at the potion Briallen held. With a shrug, she drank the potion all at once. It tasted, oddly, of radishes, which actually made it the best tasting potion Briallen had ever drank.

The effect was instant. At first she felt like she was choking, and then she felt faint. She slid down in the overstuffed chair she sat in, gripping the armrests tightly, and her body began convulsing. Gavin stood up but Mrs Wadle held him back. It was over almost as soon as it began and left Briallen gulping for air. Mrs Wadle stepped away and let Gavin rush to her.

"Breathe, that's it," said Gavin calmly as he helped her sit up. "Are you alright? You want a glass of water?"

"No, I'm fine," mumbled Briallen as she brought her hand to her head. Amazingly, she did feel fine. It was as if she'd never been sick, or stressed, in the first place, but like she'd just gotten back from a long, rejuvenating summer vacation on a beach. "I feel... fantastic, actually. Wow, that stuff is amazing."

"And it's the last you'll have. The recipe has already been destroyed and - and your benefactor can't risk obtaining it again. That means no more using the time-turner as you have been!" scolded Mrs Wadle.

"Iris is right, Briallen. That's the last of the Verriatis Potion... and I can't believe you've been so reckless with such a dangerous device. I thought that even though your thirteen, after that night in the north wood you would know better. You should've known better!" Briallen had never heard Gavin sound so angry before. He shook his head at her. "Didn't you read the letters I had delivered to you?"

Briallen thought back - the only letters she remembered were the ones she received from her parents and her Apokni. There was a letter with the time-turner, she remembered, a brief one telling her to 'use it well,' which she'd utterly ignored. But then another memory snapped into her head, like a rubber band pulled too tight and then released - she had gotten two strange, unmarked letters.

She remembered hardly any of the first letter. She read it once and then threw it away. But the second one was more recent, and she'd actually read it over several times because it used the same phrase as the note that came with the time-turner - 'use it wisely.'

"I read them," said Briallen slowly, dropping her head. "But I threw them away after I read them. I didn't think they were for me."

"Well, they were," said Gavin, annoyed. "Something is happening but your - benefactor - isn't very clear on what that 'something' is. He says to be careful, in every possible meaning of the word, especially when it comes to using Fewter's knowledge."

"Abel Fewter!" blurted Briallen suddenly. That was where she'd heard his name before - in the very first letter she'd received! Everything was beginning to fit together.

"Yeah... he did a lot of experiments with time-travel. Look, I don't like that you're the one having to deal with this, and I don't even understand why you're the one, but you are, even if you're just a kid. But that time-turner was given to you for a specific purpose. You won't need the Verriatis Potion again so long as you don't use the time-turner often - meaning only use it when you need to, not want to. There is a difference"

Briallen nodded, embarrassed by her own weakness for the device. "Okay... it's not like I could use it now anyway, even if I wanted. Lucan took it away, to keep me from using it again."

"Lucan? Lucan Stone?" Gavin paused, and have Briallen a strange look.

"He's trust-worthy too. The letter said to tell 'him' when I had to, so I did."

Gavin rubbed his eyes and actually laughed. "Briallen, Lucan's not the 'him' the letter was referring to - the letter was talking about Cal, your grandpa."