Side Effects |a Sebastian Sallow story|

Bitter Birthdays

It was almost two in the morning by the time Kathryn made it to the room of requirement after being relieved from prefect duties. Wanting nothing more than to fall asleep and forget about the disaster of an evening she had, Kathryn found herself unable to calm her racing mind. 

Seeking comfort from the many beasts and creatures she had rescued from poachers two years ago always put Kathryn more at ease when she didn't feel like talking to another person. It was a way for her to open up about her feelings without being judged, the creatures didn't scold her or have unwanted advice. They just looked at Kathryn expectantly for a treat and cuddled up to her as she rambled on. 

That however was not what greeted her when Kathryn had walked into the room, instead she found herself standing in the center of the room that looked like someone had set off a powerful 'bombarda' . Furniture was flipped over and papers are scattered everywhere, plant pots broken on the ground and bags of soil had been ripped with the dirt strewn about. 

"What in Merlin's name?" Kathryn muttered, exasperated at the state of the room. 

A loud clanging sound came from the side room and Kathryn drew her wand before heading to the sound, wary the intruder might be a threat. Holding the wand out in front of her as she went, Kathryn halted briefly in the stairwell as the clanging got louder, and the sound of more glass breaking filled the room. 

Slowly, Kathryn crept around the corner and took a dueling stance as she came face to face with the source of destruction. The sight was so unexpected that Kathryn began to laugh. 

Highwing seemed to have escaped the vivarium and now saw fit to rummage through the various plants for a late night snack. Kathryn lowered her wand and placed it back into the holster around her waist before swiftly moving to the hippogriff ravaging the makeshift garden. 

Holding both arms out in front of her with palms facing forward, Kathryn eased up to Highwing, taking careful steps as not to startle the animal. "Hey girl, what have you been up to?" The Hufflepuff cooed, steadily reaching out to gently place a hand on the hippogriff. 

Highwing chirped in response, greeting Kathryn with the usual chatty sounds before rearing back and attempting to spread her wings. 

Taking a step back, Kathryn still held her hands up, "Woah, woah. Highwing calm down, it's just me." she called, trying to maintain a calm demeanor so the animal wouldn't perceive her as a threat. 

The hippogriff slowly calmed and allowed Kathryn to approach her and it took several more minutes to convince the escaped beast to go back into the vivarium, Kathryn tossing in a pumpkin she conjured to further her efforts. Highwing chased after the pumpkin with delight before smashing it up to eat. 

Shaking her head at her old animal friend's antics, Kathryn left the vivarium and placed a stronger warding charm on the entrance to prevent more future mishaps. 

Kathryn spent the next half hour cleaning up the mess the rowdy hippogriff had created, fixing up the destroyed plants and repotting the ones that needed it. She didn't want to leave the room a mess for Deek to feel like he needed to clean it. 

After tidying up and her body feeling frazzled from the long and emotional day, Kathryn grabbed a calming draught from her cabinet of potions and her journal, placing them into a small satchel and headed back out of the room.  

                                                                                                 ☼

The astronomy tower was a place Kathryn spent many nights when the thoughts in her head spiraled. Finding a small comfort amongst the night sky as it provided some respite after a hard day or troubling nightmare.