Roses in Bloom (Open to Anyone)

Posts : 62 Join date : 2011-08-18 Age : 28

Anne's favorite part of the day was visiting the greenhouses, something she made sure to do daily after classes, roughly around five in the evening. She would forgo her homework, adjust her robes, and head outside to the grounds, a slight smile on her lips. Nothing was more relaxing to her than a few hours alone in the warmth of the greenhouses, surrounded by magical plants and sometimes even little creatures, like flower sprites or magical spiders.

However, once in greenhouse number three (her preferred), she'd make a beeline straight for the rose plants, a personal favorite of hers. She'd water them, if needed, and prune them carefully. In fact, on few occasions, she'd even murmur to them, hoping the old tradition would actually work and encourage the plants to grow and bloom. It hasn't been long enough into the school year to tell if her words did work, though the roses looked more vibrant these days, or perhaps it was merely a psychological effect and she only thought they looked brighter. But that was no matter.

Today was no different, despite the fact her usual slight smile was replaced by a stressed grimace.

Guest

Aleta stared at greenhouse number three, not really all that interested in going inside. This was her most stubborn one, where the plants grew no matter what she said to them. In fact, there were many plants in here that she had never planted; a rose bush was the primary example. A student last year had planted them just before he had left, and Aleta had spent the entire summer trying to get the flowers out of this green house and into number eight, the student run facility. But no; the roses had insisted upon being here and nothing Aleta had done had swayed the plants towards her thinking on the matter.

Sighing and shaking her head, Aleta went inside and began her normal procedure of taking care of the plants. She left the roses for last, not really wanting to see them today but knowing she really should. Eventually finishing with everything else, she turned the corner and blinked as she spotted a student. Oh but of course. She had forgotten that Anne Kirkland had taken a liking to the roses; normally because the two of them were rarely in here at the same time. But now she didn't have to take care of the flowers, which made her day that much better.

Aleta blinked and frowned, noticing the less than excited look on Anne's face. "Miss Kirkland, is something wrong?" She wondered, moving closer and absently pulling off her gloves. She shoved them in her pants pocket. Aleta took care not to mention that Anne looked a little sick, seeing the signs of stress marking her face. She got the feeling that the fifth year would be less than pleased to be told this.

Posts : 62 Join date : 2011-08-18 Age : 28

Anne hadn't noticed the teacher enter, entirely focused on her work and her thoughts. She fingers moved adeptly against the stems of the roses, avoiding the thorns carefully. She also took care not to brush the petals or leaves with her fingers, lest the toxins from her skin get on the flowers. She withdrew her wand from the pocket of her Slytherin Robes, gently prodding a thorn with it. The thorn slowly withered the dropped off, the stem of the flower repairing itself to show no scarring. She repeated this gesture multiple times along the stem, for each thorn, until she could run her fingers along it and not get pricked.

The Briton was too distracted to hear the teacher approach and jumped slightly upon hearing the professor speak. She whirled around, nearly stumbling, eyes wide with surprise. She cheeks flushed slightly from being caught off-guard. Quickly, she rearranged her expression to careful indifferent, standing and brushing her hands off on her robes.

"No, I'm quite alright," She murmured politely, pocketing her wand. Had her expression been off? She wasn't thinking of anything in particular - only focusing on removing thorns. It was the first time she had been here in a while thanks to the loads of work her teachers piled on. It was OWL year, after all. "Er, did something seem wrong, professor?"

Guest

Aleta watched Anne get rid of the thorns on the roses, feeling a bit sorry for the plants. While yes, there would be no predators getting into her greenhouses and trying to eat the plants, it was still sad that one thing the roses had to defend themselves was being stolen from them while they were still alive. If she cut the roses off and then took the thorns off Aleta wouldn't care, but while they were still alive? That was like taking out every single tooth a person had and then cutting off their fingers and toes. While they were still kicking and moving around.

Smiling at the Slytherin girl to calm her down as she had a little freak out moment, Aleta silently cursed the habits left over from her old job. She had loved them back when they were useful, but now they just scared the students and she really wasn't meant to do that. "If you're sure." Though Anne really had looked stressed out. She supposed it was just the year she was in and the amount of work that she was getting from all of her teachers, but most students didn't like quite as ill as Anne did.

Aleta stepped forward and looked over the roses, nodding faintly. "You've done a really wonderful job with these Miss Kirkland." She smiled at her, proud of her work with the roses. Even if she was rendering them defenseless. They were still healthy and happy looking and that was the important part of growing anything.

Posts : 62 Join date : 2011-08-18 Age : 28

Anne gave a polite smile and a nod. "Thank you, professor," she murmured, going back to focus on her work. One rose was left to de-thorn before she'd have to cut them and take them for a potions project. It was a pity that such pretty things had to be severed. In a few days, they'd whither and die, a thought that weighed heavy in Anne's heart. However, the project was a major grade and she couldn't simply fail because she didn't want a few flowers to die. After all, more roses would grow in place of the dead ones.

"May I ask why you're here, professor?" Anne wondered, tapping the last thorn. "I'm in here quite a bit and I haven't seen you before," she explained quickly. With a few quick spells, the five thorn-less roses were cut from the bush. She gathered them with a small frown, standing and setting them on a table. Wand still in hand, she scourgified herself to get the grime off from working with plants. One must always appear proper and hygienic, after all.

Guest

She nodded and looked around the greenhouse, grabbing a clipboard from the teacher's only cabinet located in each of the greenhouses. On it was a list of every plant in this particular house and a check list to see if the plants were being taken care of probably. It was a check only done once a month and normally only done during the night, but with winter coming closer she didn't want to have to worry about falling in the snow and breaking something or other. It would heal quickly, but she didn't want to deal with it.

Quickly going through the greenhouse and checking things off, making notes when she found a plant that was dead or dying, she looked back towards Anne when she started talking. "Hm? I'm doing a check of the house. I can't let you students be completely unsupervised in here, otherwise some of you would slack off and let some of them die." She had found at least five plants that were like that now, and she was only half way done.

Posts : 62 Join date : 2011-08-18 Age : 28

Clean roses set on the table, Anne began the task of carefully de-petaling them. Though she loathed to destroy the flowers, she was setting out to practice a potion that called for such petals (though her original intent had be to merely check on the flowers). After all, new roses would bloom. Not only were the flowers beautiful and symbolic, they also had magical properties that she couldn't wait to try out. Picking off each petal was a delicate process. She didn't want them ripped or broken, the silky petal often slippery between her fingers.

Anne looked aghast. "Why, I'd never do such a thing! Letting plants die would be horrid! Could you imagine a green house without any green?" She should her head, tsking. "Honestly. Often I come back here to check on the plants just because we don't always tend to a few in class. Such as the roses. They're so beautiful. It would be an abomination to let them die, don't you think?"

Guest

Aleta watched Anne work for a brief moment before going through the rest of her self assigned task. It didn't take long, as the rest of the greenhouse was thankfully alive and not dying - probably because it was taken care of by the older years instead of first, second, or third years. She smiled at the list, already planning to summon the owners of the dying plants to her office as soon as she got back into the school. Of course, she would actually have to show them the plants to have any real affect on them, but informing them of their plant's dying status would hopefully get them working again.

Coming back to Anne just as she started in on her comments, Aleta shrugged. "I'm well aware that you yourself would never let a plant die. I wasn't talking about you specifically. There are many students who would rather let a plant die off than stop being lazy and actually take care of them." Aleta smiled at her, ripping off the top page from the clipboard and putting that back in her pocket. "I do think that. You're definitely one of my best students Miss Kirkland. I do wish you would pursue Herbology as a career option." She put the clipboard back on its spot on the wall.

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