Movement in her peripheral made Allegra glance up. The comings and goings of Sallow’s owl were a familiar sight, but her usual silent glide across the common room was now accompanied by several more beats of her wings as she manoeuvred the corner and up the stairwell. Allegra frowned but returned to her essay.
A quarter of an hour later, the tawny returned, though, in her path towards the dormitories, she momentarily swerved to one side before righting herself. Allegra gasped and snatched her wand from the table, ready to shoot off a cushioning charm had the owl actually careened. Her brow creased as she watched the owl — Iris, Allegra suddenly recalled from past conversation — pass overhead.
She knew Sallow’s owl was hard-worked. A fact she had tried to assuage by procuring treats for Iris back when- well, before. The witch tutted, swept up parchment and quill with a swish of her wand and hurried for her room.
Whilst her own owl, Axl, delivered both post and the Prophet daily, he had infinitely more free time than Iris. And it showed. The hawk owl was getting rounder in the middle since he had stopped flying long distances between the Nordics and Britain. Allegra also suspected that it was due to the abundance of prey in the Highlands, though Axl knew better than to bring any of his prizes into her presence. She crossed her room, where he was already surveying her sharply, and shot him an apologetic smile.
“Just temporarily? For a fellow owl?”
She soothed his beak with the back of her fingers and let him peck a grasshopper gum from her palm. Still, Axl trilled in displeasure and puffed out his wings, which made Allegra grin at the sight. After a moment, he nipped at her fingertip and then stuck out his leg. Clever bird. Allegra hastily drafted a note and tied it loosely to Axl's outstretched leg. The owl gave her one last reproachful look and took flight a short way across the stairs.
When Sebastian left his room, Axl was atop the ornate console table opposite the door. He gave the wizard a flat, bored hoot as if to say, “I am now of service”, his unamused expression strangely reminiscent of his family’s young mistress. The strand of parchment around his leg read:
For your owl’s sake. And Axl needs the exercise. A.F.
Sebastian ignored the feral screeching and loud crash behind the door as he cast the last of his anti-niffler wards around the entrance. He turned, only to abruptly stop under the flat stare of an owl awaiting him across the landing.
It blinked slowly, giving a low, insouciant hoot, and Sebastian braced a hand against the doorframe, head hung low between his shoulders as he expelled a long sigh towards the floor.
Sebastian composed himself — cleared his throat and straightened his spine as he rolled and squared his shoulders.
Cast a quick scourgify over his coat, though he anticipated it did little to help the lingering odour.
Smoothing his fingers through his hair again, one critical brow flicked upward as he stepped closer and silently assessed the messenger perched on the table. After a protracted moment, he hummed thoughtfully.
That particular air of imperious apathy was oddly familiar.
The handsome bird stuck out his leg expectantly, and not wanting to further rile of any more wildlife that evening, Sebastian took the proffered note. His brow rose curiously at the initials. Allegra's soft spot for creatures was commonly known (he was under the distinct impression that she preferred them to any human counterpart), and whilst it was obvious that she was doing it for Iris's and Axl's benefit, he hardly expected his fellow Slytherin to skirt so close to granting him a favour. Certainly not out of kindness given their frosty relations.
"Axl, is it?" Sebastian remarked casually as he folded the bit of parchment into a tidy square. His pile of letters never seemed to decrease, and Iris could do with the extra help. The school owls were officially a lost cause and he was not the impractical sort, but that did not mean he would blindly trust the owl of someone with such open dislike for him. Even if said antipathy was (begrudgingly) deserved.
"Should I employ your services, then I trust none of my post shall be diverted along the way."
It wasn't really a question and the owl didn't answer.
"Well, I don't have any deliveries for you at the moment, so you can return to your mistr—" Sebastian voice fell away as he tucked his hands in his pockets and his gloved fingers found the velvet pouch. He quickly raised a hand for Axl to wait as he pulled it from his pocket. He rolled it around in his palm in quiet contemplation.
An anonymous delivery by an owl not of his own.
A satisfied smile ghosted across his lips as he offered Axl the pouch.
"To the care of Cassandra (@ask-gryffindors), Head Girl. Gryffindor Tower."
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