The Greenhouses
 

Admittedly, the woman intimidated her. Tate could be intimidating, but for some strange reason this woman just took the cake. Then again, there was something about red heads in general that intimidated her... something about their charisma and ... fire. At any rate, Seren hoped this meeting would go down well enough. After all, it was her area now, and she had put a lot of work into maintaining the greenhouses.

Letting herself in, she drifted along the corridor of numerous tropical plants. She could see the woman, Anastasia... yikes.
"Looking for something in particular?" she asked, curious. "Perhaps I can help."

Her gaze naturally trailed toward the greenhouses new addition... it's guest.

Intimidation is our game, BunBunz is our NAME :D
 

BAHAHAHAHA epic!
 

Well this wasn't awkward, she thought to herself whilst watching the Headmistress.
"Ahh yes, I'm sure you've missed it." But hopefully not missed it so much as to put her out of a job. Mmhhmm. Because quite frankly, it'd be traumatising. It wasn't even the greenhouses she would miss the most -- though she WOULD miss them an awful lot, but it was the kids as well. Paint them green, and weren't they all the same?

"Yes, the greenhouses are maintained frequently." And with that being said, Seren busied herself with gathering a small bucketful of fresh dung from the stores cupboard. Still listening intently to EVERY word the woman had to say... in case she NEEDED to remember these things in future, Seren's ears perked up at the mention of the plants affectionate nature. Returning with the bucket of dung, Seren extended a hand to on of its vines, which gently curled around her finger.
"... each to their own?" ... personally, she thought most plants were rather touchy feely... or at least Wasima was. "Though I'm surprised it hasn't taken much time adjusting to its new environment." New places always took some getting used to, new people were just another part of that.

Miss Bentley? ... That sounded strange and wrong on so many levels. In fact.. she almost felt as if she were a student again. "Please, call me Seren." Because that would be so much more... familiar, less formal and all. Or would that offend the new Headmistress? Meh. She wasn't in the castle very often, it would be easy enough to avoid the woman if things were to go pear-shaped.

Oh... now THIS was a development. SHE wanted to help?
"Sure, if you like." She wasn't going to object to the woman getting a little dirty, besides, the benefits of dung far outweighed the drawbacks. Moisturised hands for example.
"You could always ask."

"Annie it is." She was now officially on a first name basis with the infamous Bunbury
!... Truebridge!... well this was a good start after all.
Removing her own gloved from her pockets, she slipped them on.

As for the Gryffindors. Mmm yes. "Well, we have some... interesting and very Gryffindorish personalities. I assume your referring to Miss Cambridge?"

While the two Professors were preparing the fertilizer, the Umbrella Vinora shook her leaves in anticipation and stretched out her long tendrils, spreading them out across the bench. The plant began to sway back and forth, showing off her beautiful umbrella shaped flowers and every now and then giving the two Professors a whiff of her lovely perfume.

A small mouse was scurrying along the ground, flitting between the plants. Perhaps it was looking for food or maybe it was trying to get away from the long tendril from the pink plant that seemed to be following it.

HTF Task one, post one
 

Sarah walked among the flower section of the greenhouse. Sarah had seemed down the efisrt night of the term and Sarah decided to make a bouquet of flowers for her. Gorgeous pink roses caught her eye, they were still closed, so it was perfect. She examined which ones looked the best to take without stopping the whole bush from growing. Satisfied, she made her way to the supplies and took out some scissors to cut it with. SNIP, Snip, Snip, Snip, snip, she had cut five roses.

Now what else... she needed something pink... and then she find it. Tuber roses... so nice, she cut off FIVE springs from there. Now as she did not want to make her bouquet all pink.. eeven if it was one of her favourite colours. It was then that she noticed some purple Michaelmas Daisies... that was awesome.. a great filler.. she cut off quite a few of that too.

She held out the bouquet at arms length... it needed some foiage as a green filler, so Sarah went around getting some foilage. The green house had an abundant supply... that was awesome!

task force, mission one, post one
 

Dora was taking advantage of the mildly good weather outside to head over to the greenhouses to complete the first task force task. She made good to avoid the one with the headmistress and professor Bentley, and instead entered the second greenhouse, hands full of a large box.

A little wobbly, she settled the box on the nearest workstation and let out a huff of air, blowing up the stray hairs out of her eyes. Step one done!

It wasn't hard to spot the plant that she was looking for, but the second year wanted to set up her station first. She pulled out a dark wooden shadow box that, with the exception of the glass front, seemed to be covered in some fire proof gloss. The inside was large and charred, with runes glowing a warm ember color carved on all three insides.

It had taken her all morning to get the box prepared, and even longer to get it down here, and now that she had, she needed to put some things in it.

First she went around to the different mundane plants, picking out the dead leaves at the bottom of pots and placing them beside her shadow box. When she had enough to just barely cover the bottom, and some soil to go with it, she opened up the box's top and dumped the soil in first. The leaves got crushed and dropped in unceremoniously.

Gloves! She needed her gloves, but there were like.... not in her box anymore, and she KNEW she'd put them in there. Huffing again, she gave the greenhouse a quick sweep before deciding they hadn't fallen out in here and then quickly ran to see where outside of the greenhouse they'd fallen.

task force || mission one || post 1
 

Kurumi made her way to the greenhouses without really knowing what she was doing. Well, she KNEW...but she really didn't know. She was here to pick some flowers for the task force...but the issue was that she didn't know WHO the flowers were going to be for. She had honestly considered Sierra for this, seeing as the Slytherin was going through a lot right now. They hadn't discussed it - not that Kurumi thought the girl would considering how much she loathed her - but Kurumi could sense the same amount of sadness in her that Kurumi had felt a few terms ago. She was watching her mother, step or not, dying before her eyes...

Other options that had crossed her mind briefly were the fire crabs with cracked shells, sending some pressed ones to Professor Williamson as a thank you for his recommendation letter, Lewis...but none seemed to feel as right as Sierra. Even if the Slytherin would probably just throw them right back in her face.

Conjuring a small basket, Kurumi began to walk around the greenhouse, examining the various flowers as she went. Roses had a nice scent, but that was cliche and didn't send the proper message. Kurumi then passed by some purple flowers which, upon further inspection, turned out to be thrift. "Sympathy," Kurumi whispered to herself as she cast a Trimming Charm on the plant and added some of the flowers to her basket. Next to the thrift was some balm, representing the same thing, so Kurumi added some of that to her basket before moving along.

If there was anything Kurumi felt for Sierra...it was sympathy. Kurumi had been there. Knew exactly what it was like...Only it was a little worse for Sierra. Sierra had a positive relationship with Professor Lafay...Kurumi had thought she had been nothing but a failure in her mother's eyes...until the very end.

Moving a little more slowly, Kurumi happened upon a tree growing white camellia japonicas. Perfected loveliness, if she was remembering her ikebana training correctly, and nothing was more lovely than a bond between a mother and daughter, so Kurumi added some of that to her basket as well. Next came some chamomile flowers for energy in adversity and then, just to finish things off, some snowdrop for consolation and hope. Kurumi was pretty sure Sierra had no knowledge about ikebana...or what flowers meant - especially the variety she had picked - but maybe Kurumi could explain. Assuming the Slytherin let her that is.

Basket filled Kurumi made her way back out of the greenhouse. She wasn't going to make these a bouquet. They would only wilt and, well, that signified the opposite effect of what she wanted. Kurumi had other intentions for these...and she needed to to go somewhere quiet where she could concentrate on her spellwork. Somewhere dry would help too...

task force//mission one//post 1
 

Ella entered the greenhouses early in the morning, carrying her Herbology text book and wand. She was here to gather some flowers for the first task force mission though she wasn't quite sure what she was going to use them for just yet. The third year was toying with the idea of making a pressed flower picture for Oakey, knowing December was a really hard month for him. She figured her friend could use something cheerful for his dorm and that maybe she could put a smile on his face, if only a small one. Eh. It was worth a try.

Walking down the rows of plants, the small badger found herself eyeing her different choices carefully. Oakey was a boy so he wouldn't want anything too girly looking, yeah? Was it okay to give boys flowers? That wasn't weird, right? He wasn't going to like...look at her and think she was crazy or anything... That wouldn't be good.

Pushing those thoughts out of her head, the third year settled on some very pretty white lilies and red roses. The colors were perfect and wintery and not too girly. All good things for what she had in mind. Good, now to pick them without harming the plants. She didn't want to do that.

Walking over to the supplies, Ella grabbed a bucket and took out her wand, filling it half-way with water. She then brought it back over to where the flowers were, setting it down carefully on the table. Next she went and got herself a pair of pruning shears, bringing them back and bending down to inspect the flowers. The third year made sure to cut the stems on an angle, having read that they would be able to get more water that way. She also made sure only to take a few, knowing she wouldn't need a lot for her project. Ella then picked off any of the leaves on the stem that would be in the water, discarding them before placing the flowers she cut into the bucket of water.

Having finished picking her flowers, the badger cleaned up after herself and took her flowers with her out of the greenhouse, ready to get going on the next step of her mission.

Task Force//Mission One//Post One
 

Hannah was so not the mushy gushy type at all. In fact it would probably be a pretty safe bet to say that she was as opposite from that type as anyone could be. Still she was in this whole task force business so she was going to follow through with it. Besides her parents expected nothing less than perfect and after last term Hannah was not going to go home again with the same results.

She didn't really know what she wanted to do or who she would even give anything to. The first person that came to mind was Elliot. She was her best friend and she surely would appreciate that Hannah thought of her first right? Yeah right she would most likely have something sarcastic to say, but that was Elliot for ya.

She wandered around the greenhouse looking at all of the different plants and flowers. The possibilities were endless. She wasn't a very creative person and she was so not in a creative mood right now. She would do something awesome though because clearly everything that Hannah did was awesome. That went without saying. Suddenly a thought came to her. She would pick out green and blue flowers to represent her and Elliot's houses. Like a friendship bouquet.

She looked around until she spotted Daylilies and the looked like they had a sort of lime frost to them. She loved the way these looked. She took some of them and placed them in her handy dandy basket that she thought to bring with her. She turned the corner and found some beautiful green spring bulbs. She also added that to her basket.

Now she needed two kinds of blue flowers. They had to be perfect because she knew that Elliot would accept nothing less than perfection and Hannah did not do crappy work. She turned the corner and found some pretty blue forget-me-nots. Ha! Elliot would never be able to forget her either so that was pretty fitting. She just needed one more blue flower and it had to be perfect. She walked around looking at each and every flower. Wouldn't it be easier to have them sorted by color? Maybe Hannah could bring the suggestion up to the professor. Then she spotted Ipomoea and she knew that these were the other flowers that she needed. She added them to her basket as well. Now she just needed to brainstorm on what to do next.

HTF 1b
 

Ethan walked into the greenhouse with his water-filled jar in hand. It contained the lavender cutting he cultivated a few weeks before and, after the vigilant care the boy gave to the cutting as it sat on the windowsill of his dorm, the cutting had now sprouted the beginnings of its own roots. And now it was time to transplant it into its own pot of soil.

The fifth year set the jar down on one of the tables and made his way over to the supply closet. He pulled out a smallish pot, a hand shovel, and some soil. Ethan placed a small amount of soil into the bottom of the pot and gently placed the lavender cutting into the pot, shoveling a little more soil around the little plant. Once finished, he pulled out his wand and gave the plant just a bit of water. Over-watering at this point was not a good idea and, as he had come this far with his work, he did not want to upset the baby plant's delicate balance. He took a step back and grinned at his work, quite pleased with the progress of the little lavender. He was sure she would love it... And as soon as it was strong enough, he could send it. Maybe in another week or so.

For Hera
 

Oakey had darted as fast as he could, which was surprisingly pretty fast for any onlooker who may have seen his sprinting just now!

He had never figured he would be e desperately running to the place he feared more than Werewolves, zombies, or vampires combined! He went back and forth everywhere in the Green House searching for the Herbology Professor who had to be in here, this was her stomping ground.

Someone needed to go stop a vine from pulling Minerva, and maybe Maxwell into the Hot Spring.

wait...wouldn't he have been better off down there with the one vine rather than than surrounding himself with tons of the evil plants in here! Oooooh STUPID OAKEY STUPID STUPID STUPID! Perhaps he should have waited outside and shouted for her. He froze in place as he stared down each of the plants within the Green House! One of them could be ready to eat him at any moment. "P-Pro-Professor Bentley?" Oakey spoke up in a loud whisper, not wanting to attract any evil plants attention to himself.

She'd been ducked over a couple of pots examining the particular plants growth rate. "You're coming along nicely," she mused giving the leaves and stem a stroke before watering it lightly.

It wasn't until she heard the voice of... a student... a scared student? that she looked up. "Oakey?" she asked, confused as to why the Puff was looking for her, and why he looked as though he'd walked through a ghost.

What took her so long!?!?! He was standing here for all of five seconds! That could have given a Snargaluff plenty of time to devour more than half of him. Bentley needed to work on her timing especially during a crisis!

"P-Professor!" Oakey said slowly coming out of his terrified state of mind, "Professor, Hot Spring, Minerva, Maxwell, Vine, Leg, Won't Let Go!" Was that panicky explanation good enough, he REALLY didn't want to be in the Greenhouse anymore, the place itself was like standing in the belly of a beast.

While she had mastered an art to comprehending student murmurings and the fragmented style of their speech when startled, sleepy or hungry... this was... just confusing.
"Hhmm?... hot spring?" wasn't that the grounds keepers jurisdiction? ... "vine?" ..."leg?"

OOOHHH! "VINE LEG!"... wait, a student, got themselves caught up in a plant? Well this she had to see, students ought to pay more attention to where they were walking.
"Lead the way."

OH THANK MERLIN'S ROSY RED CHEEKS! or was that Santa?

Professor Bentley understood the dilemma, and that meant Oakey could leave this Hellish place.

What, lead her there? Oakey didn't want to run back to the vine he just wanted to get the Professor over there and quickly. Why did he have to take her back and witness Minerva be eaten alive by a demon vine!
Taking a deep breath in, Oakey let off a huge sigh. "right, okay."

Oakey darted out of the Greenhouse back to the Hot Spring without looking back to see if the Herbology Professor was behind him. At least he wasn't in THERE anymore.

Hufflepuffs were so skittish. Perhaps she ought to talk to Fina and see if Gryffindor-Hufflepuff peer mentoring in bravery was an option... Merlin knew they needed it. r at least this one did.

It was a good thing she had long legs, otherwise keeping up would be difficult. Shaking her head slightly, she took off after Oakey.

Idly twirling her spray bottle around her index finger as she walked, Kurumi made her way towards the greenhouses to put her minsecticide to the test. Seeing as how the contents of her bottle was for prevention purposes only...the Gryffindor wondered what would happen if her and Vivi arrived and found that there already was an insect infestation of some sort. They would have to remove those pests first and then use the minsecticide, right?

Making her way towards one side of the greenhouse, Kurumi began to lift up the leaves of a nearby flutterby bush to inspect it for any insects or other things that could be causing some sort of discomfort to the plant. There were a few hole in the leaves...which meant there was some sort of bug around...

Wrinkling her nose, Kurumi gave the spray bottle a squeeze and applied some of the solution to the branch she was holding before moving up the bush a bit. Was it just her...or were there more holes in these leaves than the ones lower down?

HTF 2 post 1
 

She had some free time so Orr headed down to the greenhouse in order to spray some of her Minsecticide on the plants.

She stepped into the greenhouse holding her bottle as if she were prepared to do battle. Remembering Professor Bentley's advice, she started off by spraying the flowers that were the closest to the entrance. She spent a good couple of minutes on each plant before moving on to the next until she had done about six or seven plants.

She glanced at her muggle watch and gasped out loud. "Oh boy! I'm going to be late for Potions!"

She then rushed out of the greenhouse hoping to get back to her room and collect her things and try and get to Potions before Professor Lafay.