Desperate Times, Desperate Measures ((Kiana))

[Scott Ryder G7]

Scott was sitting on his bed with his legs crossed beneath him. Books and notes surrounded him, and a weary arm held his head which rested in his palm, his elbow on his knee. Studying made Scott tired, and as much as he wanted to do well, sometimes the temptation to sleep was very appealing. If it was History of Magic, there would be no way he could even think about trying to do his homework from his bed. It was a guaranteed method if he was suffering of insomnia, but terrible if he wished to be productive. In front of him, it was his Potions assignment, which meant that he was at least slightly interested. Still, the amount of times he had to shake himself just to stay awake was more than what he'd have liked.

The room was empty, save for him. Often, the other guys he roomed with were out and about. What they did, he wasn't sure. Scott enjoyed their company, but he wasn't overly involved in trying to get to know others. A surface level friendship was always fine with him, especially considering that he tried to at least be kind. As he worked on balancing one of the Potion equations, Scott heard a clicking sound coming from the window. Averting his gaze, he saw that it was Hunter, his screech owl, pecking to get in. "What in the world are you doing, crazy owl," he said, getting off of his bed and going to see what the owl was pecking for. Scott hadn't sent him out with any messages, and it was just yesterday that he went to go feed him in the owlery.

Craking the window, Scott cursed when the owl nipped at his hand and started waving his wings frantically. Lucky the window wasn't open enough for Hunter to get in and cause more commotion, which let Scott put his knuckle in his mouth to get rid of the blood. It was a small bite, nothing that wouldn't heal. It was then that Scott realized why the owl was causing suck a ruckus. The left wing of Hunter's was quite mangles, having numerous feathers missing or broken. And there was a spot of dried blood. Something had wounded the owl. Taken back, Scott starred in shock, wondering what he should do. Deciding that he had to do something to help Hunter, he cracked the window a bit more, giving enough room for him to hop inside and rest on Scott's bureau. Carefully, Scott examined the injured wing, deciding that it wasn't unable to be healed, yet he didn't know how to go about healing an animal. They had learned some minor healing charms, but he had not remembered what they were taught when it concerned anything non-human.

Sticking out his hand, Scott let Hunter perch on a few of his fingers. The sharp talons dug into his skin, but he was more concerned about finding help. Slipping out into the common room, Scott looked around, seeing Kiana Brightstar first. She was in his year, and he knew her fairly well. "Hey, Kia," he said, getting the girl's attention as he approached her. "Do you know anything about healing animals? Hunter has damaged his wing. I'm not sure it's broken, as he was able to fly to my window, but I think it's pretty painful for him though." Scott hoped she might have an answer. Normally, he wasn't one to just approach others, asking for their help, but he didn't know what else to do, and he wanted to be able to get Hunter's wing fixed before too long.

[Kia Brightstar]

"Snap!" Kia grinned with triumphant glee, watching the cards blow up in the face of a second year girl. Perhaps slightly cruel to find it amusing, but it was a lot better than the crying that the girl had been doing when Kia had first come across her. Despite how badly her own life seemed to be going - losing her father and then her sister slipping into a coma and then being told by her aunt (who had looked suspiciously like she was trying not to smile at the news) that the doctors doubted Kaelyn would ever wake up - it just wouldn't be Kia if she hadn't taken it upon herself to immediately cheer the girl up. It had taken longer to coax the girl into trusting her and letting Kia attempt to cheer her up than it had to actually get a smile onto the girls face. "You should go and get cleaned up," Kia advised the girl gently, seeing her try to wipe away soot from her face with equally dirty hands. There was only a moments hesitation before Kia felt thin arms encircle her waist. The grateful hug was over as suddenly as it had been initiated, the only proof that it had ever actually happened being the dirty marks that had rubbed off the girls hands and onto her white shirt. "It felt nice," Kia murmured inaudibly, referring to the feeling of being wanted and needed. It was a feeling that she hadn't felt lately, because Kae was the only one who had ever needed her and her little sister wasn't there anymore.

Now, Kia mused silently, Charms homework, Potions homework, write a letter to her cousin or find Maryn and cause some havoc? No, no finding Maryn. There was a risk of Kia spilling her heart out to her closest friend again - the first time had been quite bad enough, thank you very much, and she had no intentions of repeating the experience even if she was pretty sure she had no more secrets to disclose. Writing to Adam was out as well. She had no desire to slip back into the unhappiness that had surrounded her since the end of last school year; especially when she had only just managed to shrug it off. Writing to her cousin would surely only bring that back to the front of her mind because if there had been any good news, she would've already gotten it. No news meant no good news recently. Why quite literally ask for bad news to be delivered to her? She'd only just sorted out her feelings concerning her fathers death, even if she wasn't quite ready to tackle the thought of her baby sister never waking up. It would simply be foolish to take on more emotional baggage.

"Scott," Kia greeted him warmly, snapping herself out of her thoughts instantly. "Oh," she gasped quietly, leaning forward and running an eye over the owl inquisitively. "Maybe another bird attacked him?" Kia suggested doubtfully. "I can't imagine why, unless someone has a dislike for owls but it's the only explanation I can think of." They had learned a spell to heal injuries, both human and non-human, but Kia hadn't been overly great at the spell. Good enough to more than half-heal the injury but she still hadn't perfected it and she didn't have the confidence in it that she did in other spells. "I'm not great at the spell needed for this, but I think I can do it." Her brow furrowed in nervous questioning. "Trust me to not mess it up completely?"

[Scott Ryder G7]

"I dunno what it might have been," he answered with a shrug. Hunter was quite large for an owl, and Scott had always thought he was a little slow when it came to flying. Perhaps some animal had gotten to him; a wolf or a fox maybe? Regardless, Kia offered to try the spell. Having little confidence in his own ability for this particular task, Scott was more than willing to let her give it a try. "I don't think it could hurt for you to try," he answered with a hopeful smile. "I guess if all else fails, we could take him to Madame Pompfrey. Though, I don't know if her specialties extend into the animal world." Scott bit his lip as he held out his arm so that Kia could get a good angle to preform the charm. Even if he and Hunter were not like best friends, Scott still felt some sympathy for him.

Just before Kiana could get a chance to cast the spell, however, Hunter let out a series of loud screeches and then jumped from Scott's arm, only half able to fly. Had he not been worried for Hunter's safety, Scott would have thought it was an amusing situation, his owl jumping and trying to fly around the common room. Some of the few students that were there watched with laughter. Unable to catch Hunter, Scott did the only thing he could think of as he pulled out his wand. "Impedimenta," he said with a commanding voice as a streak of light shot from the tip of his wand and clipped the edge of Hunter's wing. Scott had never had the best of aim with spells, but this one had seemed to work as Hunter was almost frozen in place, allowing Scott and Kiana the chance to capture the owl.

"I can do that spell," Scott said with another shrug. "And now you shouldn't have any problem trying the healing spell." With Hunter temporarily immobilized, Scott was able to carry him to a table and get a better view of the inured wing without Hunter flapping or pecking at him as he examined the wound. "Whenever you're ready," he said, looking at Kia to work her own magic. Scott had little doubt in her really. She seemed bright enough, and he figured she wouldn't simply try the spell on someone else's owl without having at least some confidence in her own abilities.

[Kia Brightstar]

“I suppose it doesn’t really matter what caused it, unless he gets injured again in a similar way. In that case, I’d have to think that someone has a problem with either you or your owl.” Kia frowned thoughtfully and crouched in front of Scott and Hunter, twirling her wand between her fingers as she recalled the spell and wand movements, making sure that she remembered everything exactly. The last thing she wanted was to feel confident about the spell and perform it only to discover that she had accidentally been the reason for the poor owl growing a third wing or sprouting fur or tentacles. “Madam Pomfrey or Hagrid should be able to fix him right up, if we can’t do it. Any of the Professors should be able to do it really. So there’s no need to worry about anything going permanently wrong.”

Kia let out a short shriek of surprise when Hunter screeched and tried to fly away, rocking backwards and overbalancing enough to land on the floor. The look on her face was probably enough to make even the most sombre person laugh; a mixture between perplexed shock and amazement. Even she couldn’t help but to laugh at herself quietly, even as she regained her dignity and stood up. “Nice idea,” Kia applauded appreciatively, kneeling again but this time to retrieve her wand from the armchair it had rolled under when she had fallen. “You cause a lot of trouble, Sir Hunter,” Kia scolded the owl jokingly, raising an eyebrow at Scott questioningly. “Are you really a secret trouble maker and that’s why he’s being troublesome?”

“Alright then, I’ll give it a shot.” Kia looked nervous as she said the spell, her eyes fixed quite firmly on the owls’ wing as she waited to see if there would be any immediately noticeable problems with her spell. She exhaled silently as Hunter didn’t grow another wing or decide to sport fur rather than feathers. Leaning closer, Kia couldn’t help but to wrinkle her nose unhappily. The wound had healed slightly, and Hunter would probably be able to fly without much trouble but it was still visible. “Sorry,” Kia murmured disappointedly. “It’s not much better than it was in the first place so I didn’t really make a difference. I guess I need more practice at it.”

[Scott Ryder G7]

Scott smiled shyly when Kia complimented him on his decision to use the immobilizing spell. He was usually quick to think on his feet, but it was his responses that weren't always the best. Lucky for him this time, the spell had just clipped Hunter's wing, or it would not have likely been successful. When Kia joked about Hunter causing trouble, Scott turned his head to her and opened his mouth in disbelief, the corners of it slowly turning to a smile as he shook his head. "Me? Trouble?" He figured that Kia was joking. "Hunter has a mind of his own. You can't blame any of his actions on me." Scott watched the statuesque owl with anxiousness, hoping that she'd be able to heal him.

Soon, the spell had been cast, and though Scott could see a fairly big difference, Kia had seemed skeptical of her handiwork. She apologized, but then Hunter, the effects of Scott's spell wearing off, hoped down from the table and tried flying again. At first, he wasn't much more successful than before, but within a few seconds of trying, he had gotten comfortable enough with the wounded wing to be able to fly over to the window and perch on the stone sill. "Hey, no apologies," Scott said happily. "It appears to have worked well enough." He made his way past the onlookers and to the window where he opened it for Hunter to be able to fly back to the owlery. "And stay out of trouble this time!" he shouted into the open air, as if Hunter would actually hear him and listen to him. Some owls were responsive, but Hunter never seemed to act much on Scott's orders.

Turning, he walked back over to Kia. "Thanks," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'm glad it wasn't very serious." Wanting to be kind and not make it seem as though he was only using Kia for her help and then rushing off, Scott stood there for a second, thinking of a way to make conversation. "So what are you up to, today? Have you finished that Herbology assingment yet? Took me three hours to complete." He scrunched up his nose at the thought. Homework was not in any way a favourite of Scott's, but he did it anyways, at least trying to maintain his responsibilities. Plus, being that he could be quite unsocial at times, he spent a lot of time working in his room. It made for a way to get a lot accomplished, but sometimes it was nice to get out and be able to have a little fun.

[Kia Brightstar]

Kia laughed at the sheer disbelief on Scott’s face. “I know you’re not a troublemaker,” she assured him, still giggling softly. “If you were, I’d probably have caused trouble with you at one time since we’re both in the same year. I’m sure you already know that Maryn and I used to cause a lot of havoc between ourselves when we were bored.” Ah, those times had been fun. It was a shame that they had ended but what else could she do? Not only had she changed enough to rarely desire that anymore, she was a prefect too and prefects couldn’t do such things. “Well, pets do tend to take after their owners after a while. So I could blame you, if I really felt the need to blame someone.”

Hunter took to the air and Kia watched concernedly, ready to use magic if he showed any signs of falling but the owl seemed to have adjusted to the wound on his wing enough to fly without any trouble. The sound of clapping made Kia’s head turn, searching for the source of the sound. A pair of first year girls grinned at her sheepishly, still looking impressed, and Kia chuckled before turning away again. “At least I entertained someone today, even if I do nothing else. I still would have preferred the spell to work completely though. Not only would I have impressed our little fan club more, but Hunter still has an injury.”

“No problem,” Kia shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m just glad that I could help in some way. I don’t like seeing animals – or humans for that matter – in pain.” Kia grimaced at the thought of the Herbology homework, shuddering exaggeratedly at the memory of struggling through it. “It was awful,” she complained light-heartedly. “You did it in three hours? I’m impressed. It took me at least five, not including the time it took for me to actually locate the book I needed. Then again,” she looked slightly sheepish, “I can’t really concentrate on homework very well. I get distracted really easily. One time, I actually told someone that and got distracted in the middle of saying it, which only proves my point.” Kia frowned slightly and pouted. “My cousin says I have a smaller attention span than a spoon. Isn’t he just so mean?”

[Scott Ryder G7]

Scott laughed when Kia made mention of the younger students admiring her work. Scott wasn't the best at trying to interact with younger students, but he sensed that Kia had been good at stuff like that. Perhaps that was why she was a prefect. Her kind demeanour towards others made her a great candidate, Scott thought. When the announcement had been made that year concerning the fifth year prefects, he was rather glad that Kia had received it for Gryffindor. As for Liam, Scott wasn't so sure. He seemed kind enough, but just not active enough. Liam never seemed to be around, but perhaps there was a reason for that. Scott tried to prevent himself from judging others without justified reasons. He gave a thankful smile toward Kia before replying. "Perfect or not, the spell at least helped Hunter be able to fly enough to get where he needs to go. I'm sure that the rest of the healing will happen in time."

At her mention of not liking pain, Scott wondered who really did like pain, but then he figured that there were those who did. Shrugging the though, his focus shifted back to the assignment he had mentioned. He was surprised that it had taken Kia that much longer, but then after hearing her explanation, it made a little more sense. "Aww, I'm sure that they were just joking," Scott replied, not wanting to laugh at the comment of one of her cousins that Kia had shared. "Sometimes the content of the subject can determine whether or not it's easy to lose focus."

The topic of school work led Scott to remember the Care of Magical Creatures homework that they had been assigned to do in pairs. Apparently, they were supposed to study a list of about a dozen creatures, and then pick one from the list that they would have as a theoretical pet. Then, they had to come up with a written plan of how they would care for the creature, taking into account all of the difficulties that the specific creature might cause. Knowing Hagrid, Scott was surprised that it wasn't a practical assignment as opposed to a theoretical one. Something about the idea that Hagrid might give them all a highly dangerous creature and expect them to care for it didn't surprise Scott in the least. However, it had only been a theoretical assignment, which was something that Scott was relieved to find out when they had been given the instructions. "Hey, have you found a partner yet for that Care of Magical Creatures project? So far, I've only looked over the list and narrowed it down to about four of the creatures that I'd considered using for my research."

[Kia Brightstar]

The first years turned away and returned to their game of cards, still slightly pink, and Kia smiled fondly. She truly did enjoy entertaining the younger years because seeing the look of awe on their faces reminded her of her younger sister. It was the only reminder of Kaelyn that didn’t bring up anything hurtful, but rather a memory of fun times spent with Adam as he amused them with magical tricks. Besides, it was a way for them to learn. They wouldn’t be able to perform the healing spell that she had just demonstrated – heck, she couldn’t properly perform it so the first years had no chance – but it was a good lesson for them. For once, she felt like she was doing her job as a prefect. It wasn’t being a prefect when she talked to them and helped them and advised them, because she had always tried to do that and others did that too. That was just being a nice person. “Time heals things too slowly,” Kia complained lightly. “It’s a more natural way of healing but it’s just so slow. Magic is more convenient.”

“No, I don’t think he was joking. Adam just likes to tease me, but he’s always honest when he does tease me. But spoons could have a really long attention span. I mean really, has anyone ever bothered to ask them?” Kia joked playfully, lounging back in her chair as she twirled her wand between her fingers. It was odd but, ever since she had returned to Hogwarts this year, Kia had needed to keep her hands occupied at all times. Twirling her wand, tugging at her hair, picking at non-existent fluff on her clothes; it didn’t matter what she was doing so long as she had something to do.

“Hmm, Care of Magical Creatures project.” Kia frowned thoughtfully, thinking back to the lesson and struggling to remember the assignment. “Ah, the one in pairs – where we have to research a creature and decide how we’re going to care for it?” Kia grinned triumphantly, glad to have remembered something that she hadn’t really been listening to. “No, I haven’t even thought about it yet. I’ve looked over the list and picked out a few creatures that might be interesting to care for but I haven’t got a partner yet.” Kia smiled somewhat sheepishly. She always left such things until the last minute. If it was homework that she could do by herself, she could finish it off without problems other than her short attention span but working with others? She was good at it because she was just that type of person, but she never seemed to remember to find a partner. If Maryn didn’t have a partner yet – did she? Kia had a vague feeling that she did but she wasn’t sure – then they could always pair up together. “What creatures are you thinking of? If you like, we could do the project together? You’d just have to keep me on track if I get distracted.”