Side Effects |a Sebastian Sallow story|

Secrets Unveiled

The hours after running into Sebastian Sallow after he crashed quidditch practice with the rest of the Slytherin entourage had Kathryn's head a mess. How was she supposed to teach this blasted shrinking charm to Anne when all she could think about was the tornado of emotions swirling inside her chest. 

To her credit, Anne seemed to be picking up the wand movements with ease, but it was obvious in her face that she had noticed Kathryn's distress. The had occupied a small corner of the library on the upper level, far enough away from other students so as not to disturb their studies, a silencing charm placed around them for extra precaution. 

Kathryn forced a smile as Anne successfully cast the charm on the apple, effectively shrinking it down to the size of the ink vial that sat next to it. Anne cheered at her accomplishment and Kathryn resisted the urge to flinch away from the piercing scream. 

Anne seemed to notice the pained expression crossing the face of her Hufflepuff friend and sat her wand down on the table. "Katie, are you alright?" she questioned, voice soft like she was trying to coax an injured animal. 

Feeling caught, Kathryn caught Anne's gaze and let out a heavy sigh. "I'm fine." she lied, forcing a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Should we try the enlarging charm next?" Kathryn tried changing the subject, looking through the book Professor Weasley provided her with the previous evening. 

"No." Anne stated bluntly, causing Kathryn to glare up at the girl. "You're too distracted. Katie, you kept stopping mid sentence as your mind wandered elsewhere when trying to show me the wand movements for the shrinking and drying charms. I'm not so obtuse to not realize this might have something to do with myself and my brother. If I'm making you uncomfortable, perhaps I can arrange something with Professor Weasley-"

Kathryn's eyes widened at the call out, but quickly tried to explain herself, thinking the Sallow girl at least deserved that. Anne hadn't done anything wrong and Kathryn realized she was being unfair to the girl. "You're not making me uncomfortable," she blurted, effectively cutting Anne off in her rambling. "It's just-, Anne I didn't even know he was alive. I didn't know if you were alive. I spent the last year thinking the worst, no one could tell me where either of you were or if they had even seen you out and about. After everything, he just left. No note, no word, nothing. All traces of him gone. Like he never existed. I grieved him. I grieved for both of you and it was torture not knowing. And then out of nowhere, the two of you pop up without warning and it's like I'm seeing ghosts. You by acting like nothing happened, and believe me I get it, but him looking at me like I meant nothing, like we never shared so much as a conversation? It's all a bit much if I'm honest."

Kathryn looked down at her feet as she finished, kicking at a crack in the wood with her shoe and feeling embarrassed for unexpectedly revealing her feelings. A sudden warmth startled her out of her thoughts and Kathryn went rigid before realizing Anne had moved to wrap her into a tight hug. She must have taken too long to move because suddenly the Slytherin girl pulled away with a sheepish look on her face. 

"I do apologize for not keeping in touch. I should have wrote you at least once but there was so much I needed to do." Anne apologized, her shoulders slumping down as she recalled the memories. 

Raising her arms up, Kathryn halted Anne from saying more, "No need to apologize, I understand, I do. There's sometimes so much to say but nothing to say at the same time. We were all grieving in our own ways, I suppose." she spoke before placing her hand on Anne's shoulder, "I am glad to see you're doing well though. Am I correct to assume a manageable solution has been found to help with the ailments of the curse?" she whispered out the last part, not wanting to chance anyone else overhearing in case the silencing charm wore off. Kathryn remembered everyone being adamant that the curse plaguing Anne Sallow could not be undone, so she was curious to see her so lively as opposed to hunched over in pain.