Ash was really trying to be better this time. A better person, student, friend, whatever. One of the things she didn't like about herself was that she tended to fall asleep very late and then become grumpy and irritated in the mornings. Which was pleasant for nobody. So this week, she was going to bed early and waking up early to take a walk. This morning, she wasn't really feeling any motivation to continue this good habit. She had gotten as far as the pathways, then lost energy and decided to lie on a bench instead. It wasn't very light outside, and Ash just stared at the sky. There was nothing really up there. No clouds, no stars... but there was a sky and it was kinda pretty. It was probably going to be a sunny day, which was nice because it was more than a little cold. Course, it would be warmer if she'd put on a sweatshirt or something. She didn't. She just stared at the sky and listened to hear if there was anybody else out here doing the same thing.

It was a weird feeling. It made her feel weird. She felt peaceful, which was dumb. It wasn't right somehow, for her to be peaceful. But... it felt so nice.

It was such a great morning for a run.

Kayne was already up and ready to start his day with his usual jog around the grounds for about an hour or so. This was his favorite way to exercise, and it was a great time to just think about life; how great it is. All his friends, getting to be here at Hogwarts, not to mention, the boy was basically already prepped to take the OWLs later in the year. He had spent a majority of his summer studying for them after all. The only one he was really dreading to take was Potions. Potions was just never really one of Kayne's strongest areas, so he tried to avoid it at all costs. But, this wouldn't be avoidable unfortunately.

As he was jogging along, the Snake saw a familiar face in the distance. About 10 feet away from Ash, Kayne had slowed down to a fast walk and said "Fancy seeing a queen up this early."

Okay, OKAY, she’d been caught. While she’d been lying there on the bench, she’d managed to fall asleep without any worrying or nightmares. Crazy, right? Also not what she’d intended to do. So as she heard Kayne’s voice, she woke up feeling very startled. Ash was always either graceful and elegant or a little clumsy and a lot confused. Waking up on a random bench and momentarily forgetting where she was... not really one of those graceful and elegant times. She even managed to roll off of the bench somehow, even AFTER she had woken up. She hit the ground hard. Ouch. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said sleepily. That had been such a nice and peaceful nap- maybe it was even better for her than walking! “You have the wrong-” She paused to yawn. “The wrong Ashley. Queen Ash doesn’t like waking up early, and she doesn’t take naps.” She rolled over onto her back, then sat up slowly. “I confess, Vice President. You’ve found me.” Although now that her identity had been established, she would like to go back to sleep. NO. SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE TAKING A WALK!!! She stood up after a bit. “Are you out here to take a walk too?” She didn’t know he did that.

Another yawn.

“I can walk with you.”

Ah yes. Kayne watched as Ash, being the graceful and delicate girl that she is...fall off the bench she had been sleeping on. Laughter broke out from his mouth. There wasn't even an attempt at holding it back because it was too early to try and stifle the laughter. Trying to talk between the periods of roaring cackles bursting from his lips, Kayne tried saying "Oh Que-" *laughter* "-Queen Ash. Are-" *laughter* "Are you alright" *some more laughter* By now, he was hoping that his friend knew the laughing was intended to be malicious, he just couldn't help it. Awkward moments caused by other people just simply made him laugh.

"Ehhhh, more of like a jog." Mordrake replied to the Bog Princess' question. "However, I'd be more than happy to slow down and walk with you if you'd like." His warm smile hopefully bringing a little bit of illumination to the girl's morning.

Ash always moved about as gracefully as a cat. In this case, it was like... a cat that fell asleep on a fish tank and suddenly woke up when they fell into the water. She wasn't offended that Kayne was laughing- it was probably really funny to watch. Plus it was Kayne. If someone else was laughing at her, she'd probably be much more annoyed. But Kayne wasn't mean, so it was alright.

She wasn't entirely... awake, so she couldn't really cackle. She just giggled until she felt alert enough to realize that she probably looked stupid. Then she blushed. "Haha, not funny." She even crossed her arms to show that it was NOT FUNNY. But that only caused her to burst into laughter as she realized that this was, in fact, super funny. She laughed until she cried. Oh well. Nobody could look dignified ALL the time.

"I can run." True. She had lots of practice running away from her bodyguards- believe her when she said that Dustin and Alex could run. It was so unfair that she wasn't allowed to train with them most of the time. She wished she at least knew where they learned to do that... Anyway, Ash could handle a bit of jogging. The hard part was waking up and staying awake. She pushed some hair away from her eyes and brushed some rocks away from her arms. Did she look like she was awake now? She hoped so, but it didn't really matter. "Let's go!"

I'm alive... awake... alert... enthusiastic?

This was actually quite surprising. Not have expecting Ash to say that she could run, Kayne was almost stunned at the notion of it being put forward. If he really wanted to, which he did, he could run laps around Ash all day long, and still not get tired (that's only a slight exaggeration). Hazel eyes looking onward down the path, his smile transforming into a grin now, Kayne wanted to make this interesting.

"Let's say we make this a race, oh gracious queen." But what could be the terms? Obviously, he could just do the classic, last one there is a rotten egg, and try to take off before his friend. But that was rather old and boring. There needed to be some sort of fun and exciting edge to it. But what could it possibly be?

Not as quickly as the idea for the race, but still in a relatively quick manner, the fifth year snake thought of what the two of them could possibly do with this race. "Last one to the treehouse has to do the other person's laundry for the next month!" The words quickly shot from his mouth, and before anyone would know it, he was already off to a sprint. This was where his years of football had definitely started to shine through.

Wait- what? Dirty laundry for a month? Well that was one was to get Ash's attention. While she'd probably end up doing her own laundry regardless of who won, she didn't want to do Kayne's laundry. So. She sprinted after him, only slightly behind. Luckily, she had good reflexes. Luckily, she had practiced running in heels, and running in normal shoes wasn't as hard. This was quite possibly the most important race of her life(the stakes were high ok). She imagined she was running from Dustin, and immediately sped up. Running was easy for him, because he was so tall and fast. How had she ever outran him? Oh yeah, she usually just hid in the crowd or ran to unexpected places. But she was good enough at running to sprint for a bit, especially when the consequences of losing involved laundry. She didn't speak much, instead concentrating on her breathing. "Last one to climb the treehouse or last one to touch the tree?" She hoped it was last one in the actual treehouse. While Ash was a decent runner, she was much better at climbing.

Hearing the sudden rush of pitter patter coming from behind; the rustling of the few leaves that had begun to fall being moved by the feet of his partner in crime, Kayne could tell Ash was interested in said race, because let's be real here, who would wanna do Kayne's laundry? It's not that it stunk or was grotesquely dirty, it could just be a lot sometimes. With that being said though, it obviously was nowhere near the relative size of his wardrobe back home. The only actual clothes packed for here was about 2 weeks worth of fall and winter clothes, and then his school uniforms. However, that was probably more than most of the student's had brought. Kayne cared way too much about his style, to just not show some of it off.

Not even realizing it, the boy had almost become distracted by his own thoughts to the point where he had almost lost the lead. Almost. Snapping back to reality though, as he heard Ash ask where they should actually finish, he just shouted back "Up the treehouse!" Weeeeeee!

And he begun to speed up even more now.

This technically was not a fair race, because Ash didn't like other people to do her laundry. Not the people who cleaned her house, not her parents, not the house elves, not Kayne. What if he lost, and somehow turned all her white clothes pink? What if she lost, and somehow turned Kayne's clothes NEON or something??? What if he lost her favorite summer dress? What if she accidentally destroyed his favorite... DIY outfit idea thing... whatever you called it??? Ash would much prefer that everyone did their own laundry exactly how they liked it so that nobody had to worry. She raced towards the treehouse and began to quickly climb up. This was what she was good at.

She wanted to win.

"So I'm thinking we plant them at the very edges of the pathways." Malachi said, plants levitating behind him and students in tow. The man was doing his best to ignore the fact the chairman had chosen to follow his group out to the pathways. He was ignoring the notepads and doing his best not to point out the absurdity of the whole thing.

He hadn't hired Poppy, they had.

"You'll all have to watch your step, of course. When you get off the path and into the trees, no trampling." They would see how long they could keep these flowers alive and how nicely they could get the grounds to look.

Likely nothing like Desmarais's over at Beauxbatons, but darn near close enough.

"If we've got any left overs, we many be able to get ourselves an inside garden for when the weather goes south. Thoughts?" He knew he didn't like venturing out much. Warming charms were good and well, but staying in with hot chocolate was so much better.

She was late, though one wouldn't know it from the casual way Neva slipped into the group joining Trent at the Pathways. She came equipped with her gloves and sun hat, the small bag crossing her body filled with small vials and salves for any injuries that might come up during the planting process. If anyone asked, that was the reason for her tardiness. A healer's job was never done, after all. Unless you were Healer Poppy.

"I think an indoor garden is an excellent idea. I know a few particularly gifted Charms students who might assist me with ensuring the conditions are right for the plants to thrive," She offered more cheerfully than she felt. The fact that the board felt they needed to supervise this whole process bothered her, especially when she felt it was their error of judgement that led to the drama. And she wasn't talking about the play.

He was trying really hard to not stare at the Board Members accompanying them, or saying anything sassy as he was noticing he was slowly getting more and more prone to do so. A character flaw, but suddenly it was very hard to keep his mouth shut when he vehemently disagreed with something.

He'd be on his best behaviour today though. Hopefully. .... It was the goal.

Following along behind Headmaster Trent, the Board member(s) and Professor Peralta who had joined them, he had his three plants levitating in front of him. Why would they need to stray off the path into the trees? Either way, he thought alongside the path sounded good. And honestly, so did the idea of an indoor garden. "An indoor area certainly sounds like a nice idea." It would be a nicer feature than the Pit of Slugs or the Weasley Swamp anyways. "Where do you think we could put it, Professor?"

"I think that is a brilliant idea. Maybe some in the swamp to liven that area up or the library could use some." Yes, Meda was there the entire time and helping out so of course she did have a few thoughts on where to plant these. It was exciting to see this process happen and she loved plants and how much it helped open the mind when tending to them.

Moving towards where the headmaster was thinking of planting she pulled her wand, "I think the spot you picked will work wonderfully for these plants. Once they start growing we won't have to worry about stepping on them. Professor Peralta do you have a good charm that could be used to protect the plants until then?"

"Great idea, Headmaster, we'll start planting them now," Violet chimed in. "And don't worry, we'll be careful not to step on any of them." Oh my stars, she sounded like a little toady, didn't she? But she was doing what she knew all the teachers were doing, putting the best face on things in front of that nosy bunch of board members or inspectors or whatever they were.

She had involuntarily edged closer to Trent and the professors (and away from the intruders following them). Was she a starry-eyed fan of Malachi Trent? No. But right now, things were shaping up to be Hogwarts vs. the Outsiders, and so she was definitely going to be on the side of Hogwarts. Now those brief acting lessons last year would come in handy, as Violet prepared to convince the board that she was an enthusiastic, well-behaved, dutiful little student.

Claudine followed the group comprised of students and fellow students to the pathways. She had levitated about six plants along and now focused on settling the pots on the ground carefully. Also, she completely ignored any Board member that had followed them. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t until she looked around with more interest a the group that the seventh year noticed that at least one of them was there.

Trent had a very good idea and if they did go ahead with the indoor garden, then Claudine would have at least a fair few months to get to enjoy it. Not to mention even get a few sketches of said garden done.The girl just bobbed her head to show her agreement. Everyone else provided positive and vocal feedback anyway.

Watching as keenly as the chairman and these two board members were, they were catching every little action, every little gesture. It was important for their reports. Hogwarts had fallen a far way in their estimation and it was time to start changing that.

"What about the students with pollen allergies?" One woman asked, standing a little too close to the Slytherin girl (Violet). She paused, scribbling something into her notes before looking to the professors who thought they had such brilliant ideas.

"We can't neglect the welfare of the students for the sake of aesthetics."

Utterly irresponsible. The children deserved better.

Another looked to the Ravenclaw boy. "Straighten your tie, young man."

"Aesthetics are dope," Kale pointed out, as he rounded the corner of the pathways. "Beauty kinda makes life worth living, don'tcha think, sir?" Yes, that very inarticulate question was aimed at you, Mr. Chairman of the Board. Plus his groupies.

You know, the same dudes that left Hogwarts in the hands of a murderer for two whole terms. Then a psycho who wanted to carbo-load her students with calming poison. The same peeps that left his father to rot and ruin, torture and neglect.

Kale then turned to his Dad who was floating some VERY pretty peonies over to the plot they'd all swarmed. "Headmaster." Yes, Headmaster, Dad. Ain't you proud at how formal your kiddo is being?? "You think peonies might look nice with some lavender?"

Evan agreed with Professor Euka regarding the library, especially. Some nice flowers around would certainly look good by the books, along as they were nice normal flowers that couldn't eat something. But he already knew Professor Euka wouldn't risk something happening to the books so he felt no need to say anything. He did briefly wonder if there was something in the library that might EAT the flowers making that particular beautification useless, but he had no inclination to ask at this time. He found himself just nodding at her words instead.

Settling his flower pots down, Evan leaned over to pick one up manually before moving it over to set it down somewhere by the pathway - to the best of his understanding of what the Headmaster was envisioning. "We could lay all the pots out first to make sure we like the look before starting the digging?" Yes, he was sure there was spells available to make it go faster but... Evan liked doing things the muggle way whenever possible. Sometimes it was just more satisfying, besides - one never knew when magic suddenly wouldn't be available to them in here.

The comment about pollen had brown eyes turning towards the board member who said it, while he was certainly hoping the confusion did not show on his face. Hadn't... they brought the flowers? Perhaps he was under the wrong impression, but he'd thought the board was who brought them. Had they not brought some options that were less likely to irritate allergies? Because outside or in, it was still going to be a problem for anyone who had a pre-existing issue. He opted to not make this comment though, settling instead on turning his attention to Professor Peralta. "Professor, is there medicinal options for anyone that might have allergy issues?" And then as an afterthought he looked back towards the plants, "We could maybe put them in the library only at the section of study tables farthest from the books and having a notice for anyone who might have issue with pollens. Then there's a spot that safe from allergy and a spot that looks a little brighter. Environment affects how well study sticks, after all." So yes, aesthetics WERE important, like Kale pointed out at his arrival.

At the instruction to straighten his tie, which was usually immaculate so he wondered if it was just nit picking, Evan simply reached up to do so offering a polite, "Thank you" as he did so.

This...was going to be a long term, he could tell by the way the chairman was nitpicking. Malachi had gotten the idea that the board had soured on him in the same way the students had following the war, and while he didn't think there was much he could do to fix that, he now felt under a large microscope.

"The students will be fine." He replied calmly. "Peralta is a capable healer with enough know-how between her and our Potions Master to keep the children's health in check when they're inside the castle with the plants. As Nam suggested, there are medicinal options."

And that was all he'd say about that before getting back to the matter at hands. The other professors agreed it was a good spot and it was time to get started.

"I think that would make a good combination." He agreed, deliberately facing his son. Would it KILL those board members to remain positive? Probably would.

"All agreed, I say we start digging." Using the simple digging spell--well controlled to avoid craters, he made the first hole. "These are gonna look great for the joggers in the mornings. Any of you take on that bit of exercise?"

Ugh, Violet hated having her personal space (which was quite large) invaded, especially by a bureaucrat. But if this woman was going to stand so close, Violet felt it permissable to address her (I mean, it was pretty much an invitation, wasn't it). "Why, student allergies are all on record in the Infirmary, of course," she commented sweetly, "and I believe those students have been exempted from this activity. Which was voluntary, after all." Violet smiled sweetly, too (which would have been a warning to anyone who knew her), and made a few notes in her own notebook, which she'd pulled out of her pocket. She had no idea if student allergies were on record here, but then again, neither did this woman.

"By the way," she went on, "who was it who recommended sending that Healer Poppy here? I'm surprised her references checked out....Madam." Violet used to just keep her head down and stay out of trouble, but after the past few years, she felt that didn't really help in the long run so now she was going for the more direct approach.

Claudine literally slapped her free hand against her forehead. Seriously? This woman was now worried about allergies when the students studied Herbology? And there were greenhouses here? “Students have coped before,’’ she spoke up, her voice warm and sarcastic. Hearing Violet’s question, the older Slytherin quickly turned her face away in pretense of watching Trent use magic to dig a hole. Pretense because she wanted to laugh out loud. Yes, Healer Poppy… the great walking, talking disaster.

She cleared her throat to choke back her laughter then got to work by copying the spell the Headmaster used moments ago. A hole was carefully carved at a designated spot, perfectly round and suitable for planting. “It would make for a picturesque sight for a sketch,’’ she spoke up, offering another reason why having the plants here would be a good thing.

"I know a few charms that could assist us in protecting the plants while they're most vulnerable," She answered the Divination professor, giving her an affirmative nod. She'd actually done a little research on the subject in case the board voiced concerns over any decisions they made about the plants. That's what they seemed to be good at, after all. Bringing up things they were apparently doing wrong.

Excuse her, what? Neglect the welfare of the students for the sake of aesthetics? What on earth did they call that Poppy disaster? Neva was about to round on them and ask as much, but luckily Mr. Nam and Malachi were one step ahead of her. It gave her a moment to rein in her annoyance. Once she had, she addressed both the board and Mr. Nam. "There are spells that can limit exposure to airborne pollen as well as potions to help so yes, an indoor garden would be manageable and safe for students." The brunette moved off to the left of the headmaster and found herself a spot to start digging, eyeing Miss Blackthorne. The kids had never been shy about voicing their opinions to adults, but the issue had been handled and she did wish the Slytherin knew when to hold her tongue. While the board members had questionable judgement, they still had power, and that wasn't something to overlook. "Violet, I believe now is the time for less talking and more digging. Would you come help me over here, please?"

"I've seen plenty of joggers while out for my morning walks. I think they'll appreciate the addition" She offered as she moved over to the plants that had been brought over from the greenhouses.

Not one board member looked amused by the Slytherin girl's snark. If looks could kill, the little girl might not have dropped dead but paralysed at Mungo's would be a possibility. "Healer Poppy had fine credentials." The woman responded curtly. "Her references checked out and she certainly had more training than your current school healer as well as the last. That she got a little overzealous in her pursuits was...unfortunate. Nothing more."

The chairman looked to the Headmaster, clearly displeased.

"I see the students have gotten no more polite with the years. What are they being taught?"

Academics were well and good but if this was the future of the wizarding world then the future was dismal indeed.

If looks could kill, her grandfather's would have killed Violet years ago. But she decided to back off, not really wanting to cause Trent any further problems. After just one more comment.

"I'm terribly sorry if I said something offensive," she murmured with a contrite expression on her face. "The allergic reaction I had to Healer Poppy's candles still makes me muddled sometimes and I have trouble thinking." Head bowed humbly, Violet backed away into the crowd of students.

She really had no idea why she was acting this way--maybe it really was the after-effects of those candles. Or maybe she was just tired of being a pawn all the time in these various disasters and wanted to do something once in a while on her own.