She crossed her arms, eyeing the cup. “That took a while.”
Narcissa didn’t look as concerned as I felt about it not coming out quite like I’d expected. “Some magic makes you work for it.”
“Are you ready, Therese?” Auggie asked excitedly, perching on the edge of my bed for a better view as I approached Therese with the potion.
Therese considered. “I just hope it doesn’t itch as terribly as it did when I took this form.”
“It will,” I said. “Apologies in advance.” I held the cup on the pillow before her and tilted it so she could press her frog lips against the rim. Very carefully, I tipped the liquid into her mouth, watching eagerly as her throat bobbed with each swallow. When it was empty, I pulled back and watched expectantly.
The potion didn’t disappoint. Almost immediately, her frog arms began to balloon out, growing rapidly in size, followed by her frog legs.
“Oh, my,” Therese gasped. “It tingles.”
“It’s working!” Auggie exclaimed, face lighting up.
I took a step back when she slid off the bed to allow her body room to expand, her frog face puffing up. She began to grow more humanoid in shape, her torso elongating, her throat reducing. Red-orange hair began to sprout along the crown of her head.
And then it stopped.
I blinked, waiting for the transformation to continue. When a minute passed and nothing more happened, a sinking feeling settled in my gut. It should really not have stopped.
Auggie turned to me uncertainly. “Is that it?”
“Am I all better?” Therese asked, excitedly. “It’s so nice to stand taller than four inches. Someone hand me a mirror.”
Freya kept a smile frozen in place. “Callum …”
“I can fix this,” I said quickly, sweat breaking out over my forehead. I could fix this, right? But what could I do? How had I gotten the potion wrong? I’d known it wasn’t right.
“I personally think it’s an improvement,” Narcissa said, observing calmly.
“Not helping.”
When no one rushed to bring her a mirror, Therese searched one out herself, snatching a hand mirror from the desk. She lifted it to her face and stared.
And then she screamed.
“Calm down,” Auggie told Therese, placing his hands on her shoulders. “It’s just a little hiccup. Callum will find a way to turn you all the way into what I am sure is a perfectly healthy girl.”
“Absolutely,” I said, nodding emphatically. “Just a hiccup.”
“I’m a monster!” Therese wailed, dropping the mirror and covering her face.
“You’re hardly a monster. You’re just … between states at the moment.”
She looked up. “Will I ever be human again?” She blinked back tears. “How can I be seen in public like this? People are going to be scared of me!”
I considered, then snapped my fingers. “Like you did with Xander, remember? He looked so much better with ribbons in his hair and some rouge.”
“Ribbons are not going to help in this situation!” Therese shouted at me. “I don’t even have enough hair for ribbons!”
“Then … rouge?”
Freya looked at me accusingly, and I froze unsure of what to do. “What went wrong?”
“Nothing!” I insisted. “I collected all of the necessary ingredients. I followed the directions flawlessly.”
“Then let’s go over it. Again.”
