Curiosity Over Caution PV

Ever since Zephyr became a prefect, there were added responsibilities on his plate aside from co-managing the Hogwarts Volunteer club with Cassie. His life usually revolved around relaxing for an hour after dinner with a cup of his favorite tea, doing his homework for two to three hours and then night patrols would follow until after curfew time just to make sure no students would be loitering in the hall, and Merlin knows where else.

Being a Hufflepuff Prefect meant reliability more than anything else. It's not so much brilliance nor bravado for him, but just the willingness to show up in places no one would even dare or bother. Nowhere in the castle was that tested more than in the abandoned sections, especially the toilets. They were in his assigned areas. He doesn't believe in dramatics for their own sake but there was something wrong about those places. Even the torches couldn't hold a strong flame.

Don't get him started with the things he has seen so far. Most students avoided the place out of superstition, while he honestly wanted to avoid it out of gathered bad experiences, which meant he was exactly the one assigned to check it. That evening was no different, after finishing some of his homework for the day, he walked around the castle slowly and even admired the night sky from the tall glass window. He only realized how late it was when the corridors already emptied.

When it was time to do his patrol, he finished other areas first before going to his least favorite area to check. It was intentional on his part to check it last so it wouldn't ruin his entire night just in case he saw something he shouldn't have seen. The corridor leading up to it was colder but that's not the part that caught his attention. It was a sound that suggest of movement, like a faint scrape. And there was also light coming inside. No one should have been there, especially not in that place.

He stepped closer to the door and listened first, there's definitely someone in there. The door was not fully shut and through the narrow gap, he caught the dim glow of candles inside. It only took a second to see who was inside and when he did, his eyes narrowed. He pushed the door open slowly and poked his head inside... "Skylar...?" He called her name tentatively as some sort of permission to join her, not because he was not sure it was her.

There were tools for brewing and other ingredients. "What are you doing here?" He stepped inside, his reaction a mix of confusion and curiosity. Out of all the places in the castle, he didn't expect to see anyone would choose to brew in this damp, half-decaying room where something inexplicable could unfold anytime. He had long suspected that if the castle has a center for its more irrational tendencies, it would be this place.

Hearing her shout, Zephyr flinched as if he was wounded physically. He had heard worse in matches and races but because it came from her, he was shocked. It's the first time he heard her react that way and loud, not to mention it hit differently especially when she was herem in this damp, half forgotten corner of the castle that seems to swallow the sound whole.

"Merlin..." He stopped and raised both his hands up when she reached for her wand and shoved something out of sight but he caught it anyway. It was some sort of plant, and it's glowing, far too valuable to be in a place like this. "Sky..." But she quickly grabbed him and literally pulled him down. He almost stumbled forward but caught himself against the edge of the sink. He automatically lowered his voice, worried that other students were there or worse, maybe Moaning Myrtle too.

"Okay, okay, I'm shutting up." He was still in disbelief as his gaze wandered around the room. The least of his concern was Myrtle but he didn't need her noise especially at a night like this. Smoke appeared out of remains of her gloves, his jaw dropped at what he saw. "What in the world have you been doing here? Are you injured?" Her casual apology didn’t help much, he just shook his head in exasperation. "Didn't peg you as someone who will hide in an condemned lavatory to brew."

The cauldron made an odd sound and his attention snapped to it. Whatever he's planning to say died in his throat. "What is that?" He leaned closer, instinct was screaming at him that nothing about this situation was acceptable, and yet here he was, kneeling beside it. Is that a Fire Whiskey she just added? His eyes widened, "Sky...wait..!" Too late, It hissed violently, it's reaction was immediate. She burned her hands again, something in him snap into motion. Grabbing the edge of a nearby cloth, anything clean enough, he held it out toward her. "You’re going to lose the use of your fingers if you keep treating them like that." There was concern in his eyes with a bit of frustration for watching someone insist on enduring pain for pride alone.

He looked at the cauldron again, he could tell just from the smell that this was not going well, not even close. "Please tell me there’s a reasonable explanation for this that doesn’t involve you getting expelled or detention." Completely forgetting again, that he was a prefect and that being there late was ground for detention already.

Skylar was quick to hide both hands behind her back, as if that would make her burns disappear. "Sky..." His tone was a mix of warning and a plea, not even convinced that she was fine. Despite her claim that it's fine, his eyes went to the angry red patches on her fingers and forearms. Why did it feel like she was actually more offended that he said she was hurt? "Those don't look fine." Far from okay, actually.

She just brushed it off by saying she would put healing paste on them later. "You mean after you're done burning yourself some more?" Another loud pop came from the cauldron and I had to lean back just to be safe while the girl wasn't deterred by it. She admitted it to be medium-sized burn and he had to shake his head at her reasoning. "That's not how burns work." But at least she finally accepted his offered cloth and not pretend that she didn't need it at all.

His grin appeared when she said he was underestimating her. "I definitely underestimated you." Glancing at the plant she's been hiding from him. "And now I find you sneaking around with mysterious glowing plant." His grin grew wider, "I'm questioning myself now if I've only met the respectable version of you." She shared what she was brewing which happened to be part of their curriculum that year. His expression turned from amusement to confusion. "You're brewing the Dogbreath Potion in here?" Looking around the abandoned toilet.

Of all the places in Hogwarts, she settled on the haunted bathroom and the risk of Moaning Myrtle floating around. "I don't even know what worries me more, the potion...or the fact that you decided this was the best place to do all of it." His gaze went to the bubbling potion again. "I have to ask...why the Dogbreath Potion? Why in Merlin's name are you experimenting with it by yourself?" He was not trying to judge her, he was curious.

She finally revealed the glowing plant, it was a fireseed bush. The faint heat coming off the plant was obvious from where he was. He couldn't hide the surprise in his voice when she told him it took him two months to get it out of the greenhouse. "I'm not sure whether to be impressed or concerned. Why two months? Is it really that hard to sneak out?" She joked the plant was trying to document her first, his gaze naturally went to the fresh burns in her hands. "I think it's winning, you're making it too easy." It was true that it's quiet in an abandoned lavatory. It's not somewhere students willingly visit. "If I want to brew potion, I'll use the potion classroom, ask for approval from the Potion Professor. Not here..." He gave the place another once over.

Her next question had him thinking, and had to sigh because he knew he could not leave her like this. "You're lucky it's me who found you." He knelt beside the cauldron, but put a careful distance from the Fire Seed Bush. "I'm not helping because I approve of this." Giving her a pointed look, "If I leave now, I'm certain you'll either burn yourself again or accidentally melt what's left of this bathroom." He rolled up the sleeves of his robes. "What does your notebook say the next step is?"