All right Oakey was just about done with his early morning walk around the grounds, he smiled as he saw the duck pond, looked up at the tree house and decided to go back their later, and had this strange urge to frolic with butterflies.

Last stop was the Groundskeeper's Hut. Alistair Firth Oakey believed his name was when he introduced himself at Hogsmeade Station. He was headed for the steps when out of the corner of his eye he noticed a pen. It wasn't much like Mr.Gibbins' from last term, but it still meant that this guy had pets they could play with as well.

As he reached the pen Oakey's eyes bulged out and his mouth dropped.
COWS! This guy had cows for pets!?!?!?
He just kind of stood there now starring at cows by Mr. Firth's hut

Alistaire came bustling out of his hut. It was high time he spent a little quality time with Broc and Bonny. It had been a good week since he last visited. Plus their enclosure probably needs mucking out. He shuddered. That was his least favorite job; it was easy enough with magic, but that didn't make it pleasant. Ah, plus I should be using their waste for fertilizer.

All of this consumed his thoughts, so it wasn't until he was only five paces away that he noticed a student standing near the gate to the pen. "Oh, hullo there," he said, trying to remember the Prefect's name. "How're yeh, Oakey?"

These cows were kind of boring, and he most of looked it to because he was still standing still trying to piece together the fact that the New Groundskeeper's pets were bovine.

He was taken by surprise when Mr.Firth appeared from behind him. "Hu-Hello there too you to Mr.Firth." Oaket corrected himself before he to began speaking in the man's accent. "I've doing..okay." No need to get into details about the feast, and his failure of being a Prefect for the first few days back at Hogwarts.
He felt as though he was being walked all over. Did Hadley choose him accidently?

"Mr.Firth?" Oakey said bringing his attention back to the cows some. "Why do you have cows?" Why not a dog, a kneazle, a cat or hell even a Pygmy Puff?

The look on Oakey's face was less than convincing that he was okay. "Yeh sure, lad? Usually people are happy ter be back, see their friends an' all that. You seem..." Like your best friend died. "...distracted."

He let his gaze rove over the field so as to not put too much pressure on the boy. "Aye?" Ali responded when his name was spoken. "Well firs' off they're not cows, they're cattle." Yes, there was a difference. "Bu' really i's because my grandfather wanted me ter have them." Not because he was too sick to take care of them or anything, these animals had never belonged to anyone but Alistaire. The old man had just... thought Ali would want them. And who know WHY he thought that.

"I'm definitely happy to be back." Oakey said with a nod "There are just a few changes that happened that I wish didn't" He paused for a moment and remebered who he just said that too "N-not to the Grounds I mean, or School or anything, you did I great job with it." he flailed his arms in apology hoping he hadn't offended Mr.Firth.

There was a difference between Cows and Cattle, he'd have never guessed? "Your Gandfather wanted you to own co...cattle?" That sounded like the strangest request he'd ever heard. "What do you do with them, aside for taking care of them?" Do they need to go on walks around the Grounds too.

That was always a common theme among the students: happy to be back at Hogwarts. Ali took pride in this part of the school. Students were loyal to it, and they seemed to develop good friendships within their Houses and without. It was always good to foster an atmosphere that encouraged learning.

Few changes, eh? He wondered if Oakey was unhappy with some of the staffing decisions. Obviously some of them could not be helped, but there were a few that may be considered suspect by the boy. Ah, educational politics. Because they weren't already going to have enough of that nonsense this year. "Well, if yeh're unhappy abou' something yeh can always talk ter one o' the staff with yer concerns, Oakey. We're always here ter listen," he said with a smile.

Then a hearty laugh escaped his mouth. "Yeah, he's odd in tha' way. Yeh'd have ter get ter know him for i' to make any sense." I've known him my whole life and I'm still not sure that I get it, the Groundskeeper mused. "Well mos'ly I plan ter use their dung fer fertilizer. The Butterfly Garden up the way," he said, pointing back over his shoulder, "can always use a bit o' natural help. Come ter think of it, I wonder if Professor Bentley has any interest in it." Likely not. Those Herbologists tended to prefer dragon dung. "Their beef sells fer top dollar these days, bu' I dunno if I could bear ter do that with 'em." Especially if the students grew attached or something. That could be a disaster.

Oakey nodded and listened to Mr.Firth as he explained to Oakey the other reason the staff was here at Hogwarts. Oakey understood that, he just didn't think a Groundskeeper would want to deal with a Hufflepuff and Slytherin having friendship problems.

Here it came, Oakey knew if he stood here too long he'd be roped into some kind of help."I'm sure Professor Bentley would use any kind of manure she could get her hands on." Who would want to touch manure with their bare hands though.
Wait, wait, wait, wait! Mr. Firth wouldn't do that to his Cattle would he! "I sure hope you don't. I may avoid the steak in the Great Hall if I ever notice your Cattle missing."

"Would she, now? I'll have ter ask her, then." He hadn't had very much interaction with Bentley, but she appeared to be a nice enough woman. And plus, what woman wouldn't want a load of cattle dung, right?

Alistaire chuckled. "Ahhh nothin' ter worry abou', lad." Even if he DID sell them, he wouldn't get much for only two animals anyhow. "Yeh're safe ter eat th' meat up a' school. If Broc and Bonny disappear, i's no' because I sold them." He nodded to emphasize his point.

Trudging along with a pail, scrub brush, and shovels in hand, Ali checked to make sure his little crew of delinquents was coming. Satisfied that they were keeping pace, he began to whistle a little melody to himself. After a short walk, they had arrived at Broc and Bonny's pen.

Turning to the girls, he set down his load and began to give instructions. "Right. Yeh're t' muck out Broc and Bonny's enclosure now. The waste is ter go to Professor Bentley, so i's gotta be put in the wheelbarrow. Make sure t' pick out the bits o' straw. There's gloves over there in the shed fer tha' job," he said, indicating the small enclosure about 10 paces behind him. "Once tha's done yeh can scrub out the floor an' walls." And they had better be in pristine condition when they were through. "Righ', tha' should do it, then. Remember: NO MAGIC."

He waited for a few moments to make sure they understood before turning and heading back to his hut.

OOC: Please do not join in this RP unless you have been invited to do so via PM.

This was even better than she thought! When she heard they had a detention she thought for sure they'd be locked away down in the dungeons where they Headmistress could dispose of them without anyone knowing but it wasn't like that! It would be out in the open where there could be plenty of witnesses juuuuuust in case. This would totally be fine. Plus she had Lottie. This was obviously a step up from her last detention where her only company was Laura. A girl who had sold her brain ages ago for a pack of gumballs. That's what she did; it had to be because the girl personified stupid. Yup. She did.

Lex made sure to keep in line with Mr. Not-Shiny Ground's Keeper who seemed to be in a good enough mood. She took this as a good sign and went along skipping merrily behind him with Felix tucked safely in her arms. YES he was coming because he liked nice walks along the grounds and she snatched him off her bed so he could come with her.

She was a bit curious about the things he was carrying but she had a feeling he'd explain so she started humming her only little happy tune.

Why was she so happy? BECAUSE, she promised herself that if she were to lose points this year it'd have to be for something EPIC and well, she got into the Forbbiden Forest with Lottie and got to pet a Thestral!! TOTALLY WORTH IT! DUH!

she drew immediate brakes when the Ground's Keeper stopped and gave him a curious look. Cleaning up the enclosure? Waste going to Professor Bentley? Removing straw from...from-- Scrubbing what now??? Dear Merlin! Poor Not-Shiny Ground's Keeper, he must have hit his head on the way over because now he was babbling RUBBISH! She made a note to give him a hug. It wasn't his fault he was uncoordinated and ended up making himself unable to think straight...poor guy...Sigh.

She watched him walk away, mouth a gape at the whole no magic thing but soon found herself smirking. He didn't take her wand. Heh. All was good. Her baby was safe and sound. Now then, time for strategy planning. They were going to take all the easy tasks and make Audrey do the rest for being so stupid. It would be like they were farmers! HEEEEY! Now there was an idea!! "We get to pretend we're muggle farmers!!! GRIN.

Granted, weren't detentions not held outside? But inside the Castle? Wasn't that what Lex had told her? Yeah. However, him being the Groundskeeper, Lottie was incredibly glad it wasn't Scabior the one who caught them. Can you even imagine how that would go?

This was such a nice day, and Lottie was wasting it in DETENTION. It wasn't so bad, you know? She liked being outside, rarely spent time indoors, unless the snow got in the way of everything.

Lottie was trying very hard to suppress a smile, which didn't become very hard once the man stopped and started to explain what they were going to do. Hmmm? Say what?

OH! THEY WERE GOING TO HELP PROFESSOR BENTLEY! BUT THAT WAS AMAZING!

Spike liked Herbology, and Lottie did too. She definitely wanted to help out. Mmmhmm. Nod, nod. Okay, her eyes were on the tools the man had brought along, she really just wanted to get her hands on some gloves before starting ANYTHING. "Got it." She said, almost beaming at the man.

The 'no magic' rule. Well, she still had her wand, didn't she? He'll probably have another artifact that could measure the amount of magical spells used in here, though, so...maybe she'll use it, just to be sure what other things he has besides a sneakoscope.

He was nice. The Groundskeeper. They should go into the forest with him some time. AND SEE THE CENTAURS!

Muggle farmers? How was that even fun? Her blue eyes turned to Lex. She seemed thoroughly amused by that. Lottie couldn't help but mimic her smile. "I'm not sure about that, but I CALL THE WALLS!" she said, almost bouncing on her feet.

The walls?

Lex looked over at Lottie who was now smiling as widely as she was. It was good to know they were both excited about this. If Lottie was all grumpy and pouty about the detention then it'd put a damper on things and make her wish it would just be over with. As it stood, Lottie wanted the walls which meant she would supervise and have Audrey do the floors! Sounded like a good plan! Yup!

Wow. Muggle farmer stuff. It would be just like in those movies her aunt always watched! She and Lottie would be shoveling and mucking away at stuff just like they did on those ranches. The only thing they needed now were some rubber boots. She walked into the little shed and what luck; she found some. She took three pairs from there, tossed one to Audrey then handed one to Lottie. "Here you go. You can have the walls I guess so once we get this shoveling done we'll just leave Audrey to the straw picking...and I guess I'll just do the floors." She wouldn't be very happy about that but it made stuff more efficient.

If they finished on time then they could head to the kitchen! They would have gone right after the forest trip but SOMEONE decided they should go straight to their common rooms without any stop offs. How VERY ruuuuude.

After slipping on the boots she trudged over to the shovels and offered one to her friend. Audrey had hands. She could get her own, couldn't she? Besides, she had a feeling hat tossing a shovel wouldn't have been such a good idea.

"Right then!" BEAM. "Let's get to work so we can have some hot chocolate afterwards--oh...or tea!" Afterwards, not only because they were working now, but also because she'd need a bath before going to the kitchen.

She set Felix on the ground then got to the shoveling while the Feline watched with a mixture of curiosity and disdain. This wasn't as hard as people said it was and in fact she got a few shovels full into the burrow. "You start picking out the straws Audrey." After thinking about it she realized that they didn't need three people shoveling and well someone had to do it.

Hey, Lex, where are you going? OH! Rubber boots. Why, of course, that was necessary, and the Groundskeeper should've given those himself. Three girls were in need of rubber boots and all he did was bring shovels. That's nice, very nice indeed.

Anyway, "Thank you!" she beamed, and started to put the boots on. Well, yes, she totally agreed, Audrey should do the picking, and now Lex had no other choice but choose the floor. Lottie preferred walls, thank you. If they had spiders...she didn't mind them. She could tell Matilda all about it.

Look! It was like Lottie had an assistant. Heh. Lex was just handing her everything she needed. This was definitely fun. "Or both," she added. Remember the talk about mixing them and see what happened? Well, they could be extra adventurous today and try it. The second year only had to ask his Quidditch Captain if this counted as practice, so she could miss the one tomorrow. It surely counted as one. It was muggle work. Elliot would hate this.

"You reckon the Groundskeeper has some sort of device that detects magic?" she asked, loud enough for Lex to hear. Audrey should keep to her work. And Lottie should start shoveling. Which she did, eventually, because it was something that must be done. Quickly too.

Should she aim for Beater at Quidditch? Because she was doing fairly well with the shovel.

"No problem!" She said with a wide grin before continuing on with her shovel. She needed to get that stuff anyway so she might as well had gotten some for her too. As for getting a pair for Audrey, meh, it made sense so why not. It wasn't all that much of a friendly gesture. Nah. She wasn't ready to be friendly with someone who just left them to get in trouble when they were all in it together. That being said, it didn't mean she was going to be mean to her. That took too much effort and grudges just weren't her thing unless the person really deserved it.

Baaaaack to shoveling! She was quite proud that between the two of them the wheelbarrow was getting full and the ground was getting clearer. Huzzah, progress!

"YES! BOTH!!! And it's gonna taste amazing then we'll make that be our special drink that we have after epic things happen!" Nod nod nod. It was good idea. It could be like their signature or something...but of course...that was only if it taste good...if not then it would easily be forgotten and she would go back to straight chocolate.

As for the next question. "I dunno..." She stopped shoveling and looked over at the girl thoughtfully before her eyes shifted in the direction the Ground's Keeper left. "He might. That sneakoscope was pretty shady stuff, there's no telling what else he could have. For all we know he probably charmed the fences with detection charms." Not cool, which was why it seemed so much like something he would do. "But it doesn't matter because we're almost done, see?" She said gesturing to the clean parts of the enclosure. "And once it's done and we get the scrubbing thing over with we can have a sword fight with the shovels!" BEAM.

Aaaaaand back to more shoveling.

BEAM.

It'll probably tastes very good, you know? Because there are some chocolates mixed with fruits that taste good. Again, Lottie only had to be in the mood for chocolate in order to actually enjoy it. It seemed like today was probably going to be one of those days that she gets to enjoy it. Good.

Otherwise, the kitchen trip might not be as nice as Lex was thinking it would be.

Heh. "Special drink? That sounds great, actually, we should have one anyway, even if chocolate and tea doesn't work out," meaning...if it didn't work out, then should just make one up, "Like, without any of those, you know?" without tea or chocolate. Maybe. Just don't let Oakey take part in this. He'll make something dreadful.

GASP.

Yes, she suspected this much, but she forgot to discuss the events of that afternoon with Lex, and suddenly remembered. "We wouldn't have gotten in trouble if he hadn't had that sneakoscope, you know? It was incredibly unfair," only Lex would hear this, though, and they still failed to get something for Milton. Maybe they should give them the straws Audrey was supposed to be picking.

But they were close to being done, and Lottie didn't know she could so fast at muggle chores. Shoveling, shoveling, shoveling. The day was nice, but she was thankful it wasn't too hot, you know? Lesson: If you want to get in the detention with the Groundskeeper, do so before February. Maybe before January, because the snow was meant to be enjoyed.

Sword fight! "Ladies don't sword fight," she smirked. Were they ladies? Or were they witches who could do whatever they wanted? Heh. Exactly.

It was good to see that they were agreeing on yet another thing. There would be a drink that was theirs and theirs only even if the whole chocolate and tea thing didn't work out. It was good that they could agree to this too because she didn't have such a good feeling about that mixture but she still WANTED a special drink. Why? Because they were special, duh.

And to Lottie's next point she couldn't agree more. They were totally convincing after they'd been caught. Lex even wasted a compliment or two on him and Lottie was soooo composed. If that bloody thing hadn't gotten in the way then they would have most definitely gotten away with it because they were just that good and the Ground's Keeper wouldn't have had any choice but to believe them. SIGH. Magic was great but sometimes...yeah...sometimes it needed to disappear long enough for two girls to get a break.

"And I think things would have been better if we hadn't taken her" She nodded towards Audrey but kept her voice down. If Lottie was whispering it was obviously for reasons. "Or if we had just said we didn't know her." That way he wouldn't have taken the first year's running as them being guilty. If he didn't think they were guilty then he wouldn't have brought that sneakoscope and all would be good right now.

Shovel. Shovel. Shovel.

AND THEY WERE GOING TO SWORD FIGHT!!

Lex nearly made a face at her for mentioning something about ladies but the smirk quickly calmed her down and made her produce a smirk of her own.

She kept shoveling with that determined look of hers that only seemed to get more evident as the muck got less and less. After what seemed like another 10...maybe 15 minutes of silent shoveling she beamed over at her. "LOTTIE! We're done!!" Of course this warranted a little squeal. "Now the scrubbing then we can get to the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!!!" In case it wasn't obvious, the 12 year old was bouncing now. She threw down her shoveling and grabbed the bucket...but wait..."I don't see any water around here...how exactly will we do this if we can't use magic?" No water and no magic equaled not being able to use wands to make water...

This no magic rule sure made sense right now. Real nice Not Shiny Ground's Keeper, real nice. -___-

A drink of their own. Do you reckon Lottie and Lex should become inventors? Of fun things, of course, there was no other way. Let's just see how this goes, because Lottie didn't particularly agree with Lex's choices when it came to business partners.

Stone.

You know, Audrey was the one who was extremely curious about what would happen if one went into the forest. It was Lottie the one who suggested they should find out, and the one who invited Lex to come along. So, technically, they wouldn't have been in the forest if it wasn't for Audrey. Thanks, little Ravenclaw. ^^

"I know." Still. "Well, we sort of pretended we didn't know her," and, as a matter of fact, they don't. Baaaack to shoveling. "He still would've caught that too," what with the sneakoscope and all...

Lex had made this shoveling deal seem like more fun than it truly was...but it wasn't, why? Because Lottie had managed to bring up their reason for being here. Oh, wait. Hmmmm? It wasn't until now that Lottie figured she'd been adding some dirt into the mix too. They were done! Well, Audrey still had a bit of work to do, but they were done!

SCRUBBING!

"But we don't need magic for water...," she started to say, and was obviously going to propose Lex to go over to the Groundskeeper and ask him to borrow the Giant Squid, but then her eyes landed on something by the shed, "....we can get it there, see?" she needed new eyes if she couldn't see. "Felix likes water?" she asked, as she moved towards the shed. Bucket in hand and all. The shovel was left resting by the fence. Organization was KEY.

She placed one bucket near the tap and let the water fill it up until it reached half. The same was done to the other...which was given to Lex. "Okay! Scrubbing time!" she said, in a more cheerful tone. They were almost done!

Why were the walls in the shed so tall, though?

Lottie still began her work. Gloves already on. But she was going to remove all dust before scrubbing the walls with water and...just water.

The fact that Lottie agreed with her meant there would need to be some serious planning into that drink of theirs. It had to be something that everyone wanted but no one outside of the two could get. Not because they wanted to make a profit...well Lex didn't care about a profit, but because then it'd make it more exclusive. She liked exclusive things--so long as she was in on them. Outside of that, they usually left her VERY unamused.

"It was that sneakoscope." She was convinced. Everything else was perfect. "I guess this means we'll have to invest in that invisibility cloak after all and some kind of magic device detector so we can know if anyone else is trying to be sneaky." That could work, yes?

So now they could move on to the whole issue of being left without their final means of getting this place clean. It was all one big joke wasn't? Tell them to get it all clean before he got back but make it impossible just so he could find some other reason to punish them. Well it wouldn't work! There were WAYS of getting water--

Lookie a tap. "Good eye!" She said beaming over at her. How did she miss that before? More importantly, how come Felix didn't point that out to her...dear Merlin! Looking over she found the kneazle, fast asleep next to the wheelbarrow. Well then. At least one of them was comfortable. "He loves water, not sure just how thirsty he is seeing as he's gone to sleep like the world's a perfect place or something." She muttered, suppressing a sigh. He was a good kneazle, but he could be the worst company sometimes. So good she had Lottie! Audrey was there too but that didn't really matter, now did it?

She took the half filled bucket and followed her into the shed.

Hmmmm....how would they do this....?

Lex saw the girl get started and figured she'd get started on the opposite end. That way the floor would be dry by the time she got to that side of the shed to do those walls. They would alternate. Seemed legit. She found what looked like an old muggle's broom leaning against the farthest wall and began sweeping away the extra dirt that would make the scrubbing turn into one big muddy mess. Once that was taken care of she threw on a pair of gloves, got on her knees and the scrubbing began.

Scrub. Scrub. Scrub.

This wouldn't take too long either...right...?

She tried focusing on the floors, nothing but the floors. After sometime her hand began feeling heavy. This was just like stirring in potions class. It was so much for her little arms but she couldn't exactly quit. The Ground's Keeper had been gone for a while which meant he could turn out at any second. And so she kept scrubbing. It was easier once you got over the numbing feeling you got from scrubbing so hard which she was because he wanted the place spotless. Normally this would matter but NOW it DID because if they sword-fighted while the place wasn't 'spotless' then he might go getting angry then she'd get miserable and everything would go downhill from there.

Better safe than sorry, yeah?

Luckily this scrubbing didn't take as long as the shoveling...or did it...? She couldn't tell anymore. All she knew was that she was now at the door which meant she'd covered everything. Lottie was done too, right?

After the miscreants had been at it for quite a while, Ali had decided it was probably time to check up on them in person. Throwing on his jacket, he had screwed up his face against the late fall cold and trudged toward the detention site. Now he approached quietly, all the better to hear if the girls were goofing off instead of working. But all he heard was chatter appropriate to the job, which produced a satisfied nod from the Groundskeeper.

Peaking his head into the enclosure, he was pleasantly surprised at the progress they had made. Maybe he should enlist student help via detentions more often... "How're yeh doin', girls?" he said to announce his presence.

Then he began making his way around, occasionally bending over to inspect a corner or running his finger along a crack to check for debris. Overall he was very pleased with what he saw. "Looks like yeh've done a righ' good job on this, yeh have!" he commented. "Jus' finish up tha' little bit o' wall over there," he said, pointing to where Lotus was about to scrub, "'an I think we'll call it good." Alistaire nodded to punctuate this statement. "So once yeh've finished, put everything back in the shed over there." They had clearly seen it, because they had found the water spigot. "Then yeh can go on back up ter th' castle."

Text Cut: Lex!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

The fact that Lottie agreed with her meant there would need to be some serious planning into that drink of theirs. It had to be something that everyone wanted but no one outside of the two could get. Not because they wanted to make a profit...well Lex didn't care about a profit, but because then it'd make it more exclusive. She liked exclusive things--so long as she was in on them. Outside of that, they usually left her VERY unamused.

"It was that sneakoscope." She was convinced. Everything else was perfect. "I guess this means we'll have to invest in that invisibility cloak after all and some kind of magic device detector so we can know if anyone else is trying to be sneaky." That could work, yes?

So now they could move on to the whole issue of being left without their final means of getting this place clean. It was all one big joke wasn't? Tell them to get it all clean before he got back but make it impossible just so he could find some other reason to punish them. Well it wouldn't work! There were WAYS of getting water--

Lookie a tap. "Good eye!" She said beaming over at her. How did she miss that before? More importantly, how come Felix didn't point that out to her...dear Merlin! Looking over she found the kneazle, fast asleep next to the wheelbarrow. Well then. At least one of them was comfortable. "He loves water, not sure just how thirsty he is seeing as he's gone to sleep like the world's a perfect place or something." She muttered, suppressing a sigh. He was a good kneazle, but he could be the worst company sometimes. So good she had Lottie! Audrey was there too but that didn't really matter, now did it?

She took the half filled bucket and followed her into the shed.

Hmmmm....how would they do this....?

Lex saw the girl get started and figured she'd get started on the opposite end. That way the floor would be dry by the time she got to that side of the shed to do those walls. They would alternate. Seemed legit. She found what looked like an old muggle's broom leaning against the farthest wall and began sweeping away the extra dirt that would make the scrubbing turn into one big muddy mess. Once that was taken care of she threw on a pair of gloves, got on her knees and the scrubbing began.

Scrub. Scrub. Scrub.

This wouldn't take too long either...right...?

She tried focusing on the floors, nothing but the floors. After sometime her hand began feeling heavy. This was just like stirring in potions class. It was so much for her little arms but she couldn't exactly quit. The Ground's Keeper had been gone for a while which meant he could turn out at any second. And so she kept scrubbing. It was easier once you got over the numbing feeling you got from scrubbing so hard which she was because he wanted the place spotless. Normally this would matter but NOW it DID because if they sword-fighted while the place wasn't 'spotless' then he might go getting angry then she'd get miserable and everything would go downhill from there.

Better safe than sorry, yeah?

Luckily this scrubbing didn't take as long as the shoveling...or did it...? She couldn't tell anymore. All she knew was that she was now at the door which meant she'd covered everything. Lottie was done too, right?

YES. The freaking sneakoscope. Hmmmm. "I'll talk to my uncle about something," could he get her a cloak or something cool they could use if they wanted to NOT get caught? By means of magic, that is? She'll ask her. Christmas was right around the corner. Almost.

Her aunt was a Unspeakable, you know? She should help her out or something, otherwise, what was the point of having her there if Lottie wasn't getting any cool artifacts or goodies? Exactly.

Oh? Good eye? That was a first. Lottie mostly focused on what needed to be done at this point, so her observation skills kicked in. Or maybe she was just a good finder like all the house elves Hufflepuffs. Her mind went back to the day she met Seeker!boy. Felix? "Maybe he's tired...," of doing nothing. Heh. This is why she preferred pygmy puffs. Or at least hers. Mags was overly helpful sometimes.

But...back to 'detention' muggle chores. Lottie kept on scrubbing, mostly in circle motions, though she alternated between all kinds, truth be told. Was this her first time scrubbing something? She seemed to do perfectly well, and she was standing, unlike Lex who was on the floor.

Granted, she hadn't heard the Groundskeeper, which surprised her hearing.

Text Cut: Groundskeeper!

Quote:

Originally Posted by hpluvr037

After the miscreants had been at it for quite a while, Ali had decided it was probably time to check up on them in person. Throwing on his jacket, he had screwed up his face against the late fall cold and trudged toward the detention site. Now he approached quietly, all the better to hear if the girls were goofing off instead of working. But all he heard was chatter appropriate to the job, which produced a satisfied nod from the Groundskeeper.

Peaking his head into the enclosure, he was pleasantly surprised at the progress they had made. Maybe he should enlist student help via detentions more often... "How're yeh doin', girls?" he said to announce his presence.

Then he began making his way around, occasionally bending over to inspect a corner or running his finger along a crack to check for debris. Overall he was very pleased with what he saw. "Looks like yeh've done a righ' good job on this, yeh have!" he commented. "Jus' finish up tha' little bit o' wall over there," he said, pointing to where Lotus was about to scrub, "'an I think we'll call it good." Alistaire nodded to punctuate this statement. "So once yeh've finished, put everything back in the shed over there." They had clearly seen it, because they had found the water spigot. "Then yeh can go on back up ter th' castle."

How do YOU think we're doing, eh? We're cleaning. Leaving everything spotless, can't you see? Lottie smiled, "Good."

*mellow*

YES. We know. We're not done with the wall yet. Tsk. The girl merely nodded, the same fake smile still on her face. Of course, she kept on doing her job, so as to finish quickly. Or finish a little after Lex, who seemed to have done ALL her job on the floor. Hey! She was good at cleaning!

"Okay, Sir!" she beamed. They were almost free to goooooo and actually BE free. And take a well-deserved shower before kitchen time?

But wait...Lex, sword fights? Her eyes stayed on the other girl before finishing off the wall. There. All good.

"Oh you definitely should!" She practically squealed, forgetting that they were whispering only a minute ago. When it hit her she clapped both hands over her mouth but quickly pulled them away when she remembered where they had been. The floor may have been clean but she'd been touching it before she got it that way. Merlin knew how many sick germs were on the ground and she didn't WANT to get sick. Not now anyway.

Lex got off her knees and dumped the scrubbing brush back in the bucket of water she'd been pulling along the floor with her. DONE!

Just in time too it would seem because all of a sudden there was a noise. She spun on her heel, juuuuust a little startled by the sudden voice of the Ground's Keeper. When did he get there and really, didn't ANYONE hear about walking loudly??? Jeeeez! What if she had a weak heart or something??? Didn't these people care whether she suddenly dropped dead or not??? Then he had to nerve to ask how they were doing. Quite fine Mr. Heart Attack Inducer! She gave him a slightly wide eyed look, just staring at him. There would be no apology would there? Sigh. She didn't think so.

Well, no harm no foul. She didn't suddenly die of fright so she guessed she could let it go...this time.

Spot on the wall? Lex looked over to where Lottie was scrubbing then scowled a bit, but not so he could see, nope because then he would think they were sulking or something. Lottie was doing it. No need to get obvious. He's the one who decided to show up before they were legit done--

THEY COULD GO???

YESSSSSSSSSS!!!

She grinned up at him. "Yes Sir!"

When Lottie was done she grinned at her too but the grin fell slowly...if they left...how would they get to sword fight...? Hmm...they didn't count on him being back so quick...Lottie had an answer to this, right? Yeah. Lottie would fix this so they could still have fun. She would follow her lead.

She'd made it a mission to know the new staff before the end of the school year, having still not been on great known terms with most of the professors as it was after almost four years; Just the people she sat next to up at the staff table in the great hall and now Leo. Although, she was beginning to wonder why she'd chosen Alistaire for this first, considering how cold it was out. However, two very large animals had caught her attention before she could change her mind on the matter, steering her off course.

Despite passing by the man's hut to get to the fenced area, Medea had to pause for a moment to pinpoint just what the new aroma was. It wasn't unpleasant, just, different. Leaning against the fence, she tilted her head to the side, staring at the creatures. She'd seen, studied, and heard of many animals, but these weren't in the list.

They were kinda cute actually.

"Tha's a good girl, Bonny. Eat up, now." Alistaire withdrew his hand from under the creature's mouth, happy that she had taken the medicine so easily. He gave her a few affectionate pats on the head before looking up. Some thing - or some ONE - had caught his eye.

It was Romanos. "Medea! I's good ter see yeh outta the castle! More'n I can say fer some o' our colleagues, as i's winter time." He didn't blame them for wanting to stay inside. "Can I do something fer yeh?" Of course it was possible that she just was out for a walk, but that wasn't the most likely explanation.

Oh! Goodness, the animals were such an eyeful, she almost missed Alistaire standing there. How lucky it was that she wasn't currently knocking on his hut when he wasn't even there. "Hello, Alistaire!" Medea smiled, giving a wave. No visitors? She'd have thought he'd have a few...for reasons. "Oh, I just vonted to come by and say hello. I'm not, interrupting anything, am I?"