Page 28 of Spellbound and Gagged

"Oh, he sees it," Minerva replied, watching the Principal's thoughtful expression as he observed Juno and Thaddeus. "He's been planning this all along."

Chapter Nine

Reality came crashing back. Juno was suddenly aware of the hundreds of eyes fixed on her and Thaddeus. The crowd burst into applause and cheers, apparently having enjoyed the impromptu show.

"Right," Juno said, fighting to regain her composure. "The final challenge. Of course."

Malachai cleared his throat. "Yes, well. In light of recent developments, I think a slight change is in order."

Juno and Thaddeus exchanged wary glances.

"For the final challenge of Brewfest," Malachai announced, "our herbology candidates will work in pairs to create a new potion. Meanwhile, the other competitors will present their potions as usual."

A murmur of excitement ran through the crowd. This was definitely a break from tradition.

"And," Malachai continued with a sly grin, "I think it's only fitting that Professors Runeheart and Shadowspire should pair up together. After all, they've already shown such chemistry."

Juno groaned internally. She was going to have a talk with Malachai about appropriate uses of puns when this was all over.

As their competition paired off, Juno turned to face Thaddeus. "Let's show them what we can do."

They moved to their workstation, acutely aware of the eyes following their every move. The truth potion was still buzzingthrough Juno's veins, making her hyper-aware of Thaddeus's presence beside her.

"All right," Juno said, laying out her ingredients. "I think if we combine my nurturing elixir with your protective brew, we might be able to create something truly unique."

Thaddeus nodded, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Agreed. But we'll need to be careful with the proportions. Too much of either could destabilize the whole potion."

Juno laid out the concentrated moonlight orchid pollen she'd prepared, while Thaddeus brought forth his vial of the precious nectar. She stared at it for a moment, remembering their conflict over it.

"You know," she said thoughtfully, "it was probably for the best that you won that coin toss. Your defensive methods preserved the nectar's potency better than my approach would have."

"And your nurturing techniques allowed you to transform the pollen into something almost as powerful," Thaddeus replied. "We each approached the same material differently, but both methods had their strengths."

Their eyes met in understanding. The competition had pushed both of them to innovate, to stretch beyond their comfortable techniques. Together, they now had both the concentrated nectar and the enhanced pollen—a combination neither would have achieved alone.

They set to work, but the truth potion wasn't done with them yet.

"Your hands are so elegant when you work," Juno blurted out as Thaddeus carefully measured out shaved birch. "I used to daydream about them after you had left for the rainforest."

Thaddeus nearly dropped the birch. "Your hair smells like sunshine and wildflowers, and it's incredibly distracting."

Juno bit her lip, trying to focus on chopping herbs. "You're incredibly distracting. Especially when you do that thing with your eyebrow."

"What thing?" Thaddeus asked, his eyebrow raising unconsciously.

"That thing," Juno gestured with her knife. "It's infuriatingly attractive."

"Well, you're infuriatingly attractive all the time," Thaddeus shot back. "Especially when you get that little crease between your eyebrows when you're concentrating."

They glared at each other for a moment, the air between them crackling with tension. Then, simultaneously, they burst out laughing.

"We're ridiculous," Juno gasped, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

"Completely absurd," Thaddeus agreed, grinning. "Now, shall we finish this potion before we embarrass ourselves further?"

Still chuckling, they turned back to their work. As they added the final ingredients, Juno felt a surge of magic unlike anything she'd experienced before. The potion began to glow, swirling with colors that shouldn't have been possible.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Juno asked.

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