Cris heard someone enter the Greenhouse and glanced up from his tea leaf bagging to see whom it was. "Hey Adi. Great minds think alike. I was just wondering whether you'd be coming today to pick up your tea leaf collection. From the looks of it, they all look pretty dried. I think that the time is ripe for us to retrieve and hand them over to Professor Botros. What do you think?" Cris asked Adi in turn.

Was it time, or should they wait a couple more days?

Adi surveyed the tea leaves once more. They certainly looked dry enough to him. "I think they've dried enough,'' he said finally. "If leave then any longer they'll probably get too brittle.''

He retrieved the labeled bags from his pockets and looked sheepishly over at Cris. "I copied your idea.'' Not that Cris would mind, right? "So let's get to packing and then delivering.'' So Botros could have some delicious tea. Adi bent and began collecting his leaves.

"Yeah you're right. We don't want them to be too brittle and not have any flavor at all," Cris agreed with Adi as he filled up the last plastic baggy of his with the dried leaves.

He smiled to see that Adi had also decided to label his bags. "I figured that it would be hard for Professor Botros to remember which tea leaves were in the bag...considering that he's already lost a couple of Remembralls," Cris couldn't help but add that part in.

"So I figured that labeling them would help him a lot. Well I'm all done bagging mine. I'll wait for you and if you want we can head on over to his office right now and hand them over to him," Cris suggested before belatedly realizing that Adi might have other plans for the rest of the day.

"I mean...if you have no other plans right now," he sheepishly told Adi, quickly correcting himself.

"Yep, that's a good idea. At least we helped him out with the Remembralls,'' Adi said. He still couldn't help but feel sorry for Botros and his memory. Couldn't the guy use an Memory Enhancement Potion or something? Anyway...

The third year started placing the tea leaves in their respective bags. "Sure,'' he continued the conversation. "I haven't got anything else to do.'' Except homework but that could wait a bit, right? Adi added the last of the leaves to the last bag. "I'm done, Cris. Let's go give the Professor his leaves.''

Bagging his last collection of tea leaves, Cris sealed the plastic baggy before turning to Adi. "I'm ready when you are. Let me just return this pruning shear back into the closet and I'll head on back to the castle with you," Cris agreed with his young badger friend.

Walking over to the tool supply shed, Cris placed the pruning shears back into its place before closing the shed.

"I'm ready when you are," Cris smiled at Adi, as he pocketed all his plastic baggies filled with tea leaves into his jacket pocket while making his way out of the greenhouse with Adi.

Text Cut: LOL! Would've been fun!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

..............That was possibly very true and the idea that the Gryffindor would simply stand there, nomming on chocolate and watching things unfold was hard to argue. Lex wasn't exactly known for her safety precautions. Things could get bad real fast with her. Ahem.

Alexa noticed the plant bait at about the same time that Lottie did and got to thinking they could choose the plant based on how vicious it was while it was eating, because that's what it would be doing essentially; trying to eat Milton. No doubt he'd survive and it'd be another story for him to add to his growing list of things he survived. He was welcome. "I suppose, in the end, it's good he didn't get run over by a train like we thought he would. He's more use alive." Where was he to hear that too?? Lex just admitted he wasn't a waste of space and he's absent when she does. Ugh. Could they put that on the card then?

Lex reached for a bucket with chopped meat in it, her eyes widening a little when Lottie nearly lost a finger (except not really because those things didn't really do THAT) but she relaxed soon enough. Lottie knew what she was doing you know. "Pretty much. I get the feeling he'd survive a zombie apocalypse, if only for the fact of being in the right place at the right time or having people who'd make sure he wasn't chomped." Milton was a survivor, just ask the man-eating plant that nearly made him lunch.

"What about these?" She asked, stopping in front of some colourful little plants that were chomping in their direction. They were fiesty enough.

True. To an extent, that is. He was more of use while being alive than dead, but to whom? Them? Milton? Whoever was there to save him? At least that person had something to occupy their lives with, clearly. "Right. Also, we wouldn't be here right now." Lottie would probably be chilling in front of a fireplace or something, possibly reviewing Alec's notes. Possibly. Possibly not. Looks like we'll never know.

Also, no, no plant was going to bite her. She had plenty of experience with the fanged geranium now. Who was still without a name. It is difficult to come by a proper name for a plant. Unless you're Tag Kildare.

Lottie was now watching Lex as she interacted with the plants, but then she mentioned a zombie apocalypse and... wait, what? First time she's heard her bestie talk about it, really. Other that at DADA class, and that's not the same at all. "Or hiding." He'd probably lock himself in some attic and survive everyone.

"I think they'd do quite nicely." She nodded, eyeing the plants again and paying close attention.

The snow continued to fall and the icy wind was relentless. Alas, the below freezing temperatures were becoming unbearable, so much so that even tall, strong structures gave way to its touch.

CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. SMASH.

The strong breeze splintered the glass, resulting in a few of the panes shattering. The greenhouses were no longer a fortress to defend from the wind and snow. It had been seized.

Were these plants suited to arctic conditions by any chance?

It wasn't every day that the blonde herbologist grudgingly made her way to the greenhouses. There was seldom any grudge involved. The greenhouses were her sanctuary, the centre of her universe when she was here at Hogwarts. It was the product of her time and effort, and she had put her heart and soul into making sure it was maintained, that new stocks were brought in and that they all, blossomed and flourished. So this mornings grudge could only be attributed to the nasty weather. It was relentless...

Quickly hurrying into greenhouse one, her head bowed against the wind, Seren expected to be overcome with a warmth that could only be felt when the wind wasn't at her back. But that didn't come, even after the door was closed.

"What in the..." she muttered, her words lost to the sound of the wind blowing THROUGH her greenhouse.

Her blue eyes darted every which way... left, right, up, down, and a panorama of the greenhouse served to do two things. First, to confirm her worst fear, and second... to break her heart.

Cris had decided to return to the Greenhouse to check on the plants. The last time he was here, he had collected some leaves to dry for Professor Botros. Back then he had noticed how warm and snug it was inside the Greenhouse and was very surprised to feel incredibly cold when he walked in.

"Why is so cold in here? The door to the greenhouse is closed" Cris wondered as he walked further in. Then to his dismay he saw the damage. Something had broken through some of the glass panes and now the outside wind was blowing in. Cris knew that he had to do something before the plants in the greenhouse began to freeze up and ultimately die.

It was then he noticed someone else in the Greenhouse with him. Cris strained his eyes to see who it was and then breathed a sigh of relief when he realized it was Professor Bentley. She would know what to do, Cris thought to himself as he quickly crossed the greenhouse to get to her.



"Professor, the greenhouse.....the plants? Is there something we can do to save them" Cris asked in earnest. If there was anyone who knew what to do...especially when it had anything to do with plants, it would be Professor Bentley.

Yes, she would know what to do. So why wasn't she doing anything?

She was still standing, and staring... and she felt as though she would fall to the floor any second now. She wanted to fall to the floor. To sit, and cry. But a couple of things prevented her from doing so. It was cold... it was not productive... and apparently she wasn't alone.

"Oh... hi Cris," she greeted in her smallest voice. "We need to move them. There's no point doing anything here." And they would have to cut some of their losses. "I've not been happy with the conditions in here for some time... and this obviously isn't working.. so... we're moving." Yep.

"Could you start by grouping the healthier.... less frozen specimens, I need to post a notice... we need man power."

And without further hesitation she sprinted out of the greenhouse to her barren office around the corner.

IT WAS TIME TO SAVE THE DAY!

Trucking through mounds of snow Kyroh was more than prepared. He had on two t-shirts, one turtle neck, three sweaters, two pairs of paints, long underwear, four pairs of socks ANNND his cloak.

Combined that with his, gloves, hat and the scarf that was wrapped around his whole head (minus his eyes) the first year was ready to go!

The notice board said that something bad had happened in the greenhouses. Which meant the plants were dying. And without PLANTS there was no Herbology. And he still wasn't sure if he was good at Herebology. HE COULDN'T LOSE A SUBJECT HE WAS SORTA-MAYBE-KIND-OF-POSSIBILITY UNDERSTOOD!

Kyroh pushed his way into the first greenhouse.... and toppled over. He went rolling, bumping into a few plants in the process but he quickly got back up. EXTRA PADDING! NO DAMAGE DONE BAD GUYS!

Pulling the scarf up from his mouth the first year looked toward the only person he could see. A Huffelpuff!"I'M READY TO HELP!" He quickly ran over to the smallest plant he could find and picked it up.

He would NOT let the baby plant freeze!

Professor Bentley was in trouble! Well... technically the plants were in trouble. BUT IT WAS BENTLEY TOO OKAY?! And Zander would do anything to help his favorite most beautifulest Professor ever! So yes, Zander Adair at your service, Bentley! The Gryffindor came in running to the Greenhouse as soon as he heard what was going on. He would never miss an opportunity to stare at Bentley's face, ahem, help her out .

Speaking of the herbology angel... Wait. Where's Bentley. Zander looked around in complete panic. WAS HE TOO LATE?! Did he just imagine the notice on the board? Was he just making up excuses now so that he could see her? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE PEOPLE!? But then he saw that dragon loving firstie (Kyroh) and Cris! He made his way over to them and forced a grin, even though he wasn't too happy because really he just wanted Bentley. "Where's Professor Bentley?" Because really he wasn't here for the plants...

Cris couldn't believe how Professor Bentley looked. For a moment there she looked defeated...lost...ready to cry.

'No...no...No please don't cry, Professor,' Cris thought to himself. He knew that if the Professor cried, he would start bawling too. The poor plants. But then the Professor seemed to find an inner strength and she was back to being Professor Bentley once again, although her voice still needed a little bolstering.

Cris had to strain his ears to hear what she had to say. She wanted him to gather up the less frozen plants. That he could do....and if he could find some that were a frozen but might still be alive, he was going to gather them up too.

"I'm on it, Professor," Cris nodded to the Professor before she sprinted out the greenhouse for more re-inforcements. Until then, Cris didn't even know that the Professor ran, but the way she ran out of the greenhouse, Cris suspected that she did her fair share of running. He made a mental note to himself to ask her whether she would like to go running with him sometimes.

Of course, he would only do that after all the plants were safely rescued and moved into their new home.

Operation Gather Up and Save was now in session.

Cris first ran over to the tool shed, grabbed a wheel barrow and a couple of empty pots. Pushing the wheelbarrow along the rows of plants, Cris decided to check on the plants that were directly under the broken glass panes to examine them. They would be the first to freeze being under all that cold wind and all. Cris gently touched the leaves of the plants and was disappointed to see that most of them were covered in ice and turning black. Cris sighed sadly. These plants were beyond saving.

Cris moved on down the row, first examining the plant, before deciding whether the plant could be salvaged or not. Those that were in pots, Cris picked them up and placed them into the wheelbarrow. Those that were growing in the flower beds, Cris marked them by placing an empty pot next to it. These plants would need to be re-potted.

Cris wondered when the others would arrive. Every minute was precious.

...and here they were. "Hey Zander, Kyroh...that is your name right?..." Cris called out to the other students, smiling and waving at them.

It was done. It was done!

Seren hurried back to the greenhouses and followed Zander back inside. And oh! There was a Kyroh too!

"Aaahhh... right, let's see what we have here..." she started, purposefully moving past the boys to inspect the plants.. "We need to move these up to the castle, we can use the room off the Great Hall..." she started, speaking to those assembled. Yes, this was as much of a hello as they were going to get in a crisis. But oh! ......... Kyroh was too cute, could she hug him? He looked warm and soft...

No.

Now was not the time for hugging. That could come later.

Okay, there was time enough for greetings in some form, so she flashed appreciative smiles to the two boys that had come to the rescue.

"Thank you both for coming... as you can see, things are rather dire."

And yes, she needed hugs. Lots of them. And would be demanding them once the flora babies were safe.

After reading the notice in her Common Room, there was only one thing for Lux to do. Her Honorary Head of House/one of her favourite Professors was in trouble and needed help. STAT. Rushing up to her dorms, she had bundled up in the warmest clothes she had available and made the trek to the Greenhouse.

"I am here to help you, Professor Bentley!" Waving to Zander as she went, the little Puff headed over to Bentley and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry your plants are not doing well." Even though she didn't normally hug Professors, Bentley really seemed to need it. Besides, Lux LOVED giving people HUGS. Smiling weakly she looked around at the sad conditions.

Poor little plants. It broke her heart to see them this way.

Leah was prepared to save the greenhouse. Wrapped in a cloak, gloves, hat, and scarf, she read the notice on the board about the DAMAGED greenhouse. Though she was not surprised by the unbelievable cold when she reached the greenhouse, she could not help but cover her face with her hat and scarf completely before feeling her way in.

Hearing voices inside the greenhouses, the Hufflepuff pulled her scarf down by a few inches to look at her surroundings. Omg the the greenhouses WERE damaged. There were broken glass panes and there was wind roaring in. No wonder the professor needed their help.

Then Leah noticed the people in the greenhouse with her. A worried Professor Bentley was there, as well as fellow Badger Cris and a girl, a little Ravenclaw boy, and the cute boy who was good at acting in HoM. Walking over quickly , she said in a muffled voice, "Don't worry, Professor. We'll help to save your plants." she nodded, and walked to Cris, giving a small smile at him (though he probably could not see it because her mouth was covered) and pulled down her scarf a bit more. "Hey Cris, what's your plan?" He obviously had one, seeing the wheelbarrow and the pots.

Just as he waited for a response he heard her magical voice calling unto him. Okay see yah Cris, wouldn't want to be ya! We have a Bentley to go talk to! Zander quickly made his way towards his herbolgy angel and listened carefully to what she had to say. No hello? Wasn't she happy to see him? Wasn't she going to acknowledge him? Awh. Nothing worse than the feeling of being completely unacknowledged by your most favoritest ever. Sad day. So sad.

A look of disappointment crossed the Gryffindors face. Was this selfish of him? He wanted to be all sad for the plants and help, but was acknowledgment too much to ask for? AH. But Bentley! Didn't need her to think he was all selfish. Okay no. No more disappointment. More helping. Maybe if he helped, then she'd say hi or thank him with a hug or something? No, back to helping. That's what he was here to do. Right.

The Gryffindor melted under her smile and ah, a thank you. And more flutteries. GAh. Why must the flutteries always come at the worst times. "Always glad to help you Professor Bentley!" He smiled a smile of his own. Now, plants? Right. He walked towards one of the plants in mention. He found a flower pot that looked manageable enough. He picked it up as carefully as he could. "Woah these are heavier than they look," WAIT DID THAT MAKE HIM SOUND WEAK? "I mean- uh- it's not that bad,".... Would he be able to make it to the greathall like this? There had to be some magic way or something... Where was his strengthening potion when he actually needed it.

And with that he started walking towards the door. "Great hall right?" Would he see other plants there? He definitely did not want to screw this up.

Just as he was busy hugging his baby plant another person entered. A Gryffindor guy. He smiled at them but the smile made Kyroh feel strange. Kind of itchy. Or maybe it was just all the extra fabric rubbing but STILL. Smile didn't look too solid. The first year waved though because MAYBE THE GRYFFINDOR WANTED TO BE HIS SIDEKICK!?

Before he could ask Bentley was here! Look how sad she looked. So sad.....so sad! He pulled up his scarf again. "Don't worry Professor, I PROMISE you i'll save as many pants as I can." HE PROMISED. "Even if one might try to bite my head off or something i'll STILL try to save it."......There weren't flesh eating plants in this greenhouse right??!

....NO TIME TO WORRY ABOUT THAT!

And then two Huffelpuffs entered. Kyroh would have waved at them too but then the Gryffindor was leaving!?!

WAIT UP SIDEKICK FOR HIM!!!! Kyroh grabbed another baby plant before he followed the Gryffindor out the door.

"Hey Leah, why am I not surprised to see you here? You're always ready to help out. A true badger indeed," Cris smiled at the younger badger. "The Professor said to gather up the plants that haven't been totally frozen yet. So I've been putting those that are in pots in the wheelbarrow, while marking those that are in the flower bed with pots. I think we may need to transfer them from the beds into these pots, but I want to check with Professor Bentley first before I do that. Hold on a sec," Cris held up a finger as he turned to look for the Professor.

"Professor what about the plants that are growing in the flower beds? Do you want us to repot them before moving them?" Cris called out to her. Sure the fastest way would be to just yank them out together along with their roots, move them first and then repot them, but Cris was worried that might end up 'shocking' the plant.

It was time to save the plants! The poor plants would all freeze here. "I'm here to help," Penelope said to the professor as she walked in to the greenhouse. The greenhouses were damaged, letting the cold wind blow through. This was not something that could be repaired with a simple charm. Penelope had seen the notice on the board. After bundling up in warm clothes, she rushed down to the greenhouses. Well, as fast as she could get there from Ravenclaw tower. That was very time consuming.

Some of the plants were frozen, unable to be saved. Poor little plants. They didn't deserve to die like this.

It looked like Cris had a plan for saving the plants. Whatever they were doing, Penelope was ready to help, as long as it did not involve freezing in the snow.

After reading an emergency SOS from Professor Bentley on the noticeboard, Simon nearly dropped all his books on his toes. Luckily for him, he was quick enough to catch them before he bruised any of his toes. After storing his books in his trunk, he bolted out of the door.

He arrived in the greenhouses panting. He took a moment to catch his breath and saw the glass windows shattered. Merlin, that was hazardous. The air suddenly was becoming very frigid inside. Would the plants last long in this weather? He didn't know. He turned to Professor Bentley with a worried grimace. "I'm here to help too. What can I do?" he asked with a nod. He saw Zander and a couple other kids helping them by carrying them somewhere. He gave them a brief wave and grin and then he refocused on Professor Bentley.

They had a crisis on hand!!

After reading the SOS message from Professor Bentley, Arista dropped the History of Magic homework and ran out to the Greenhouses. It was time to suit up and be the hero.

Upon arriving at the greenhouses she realized she wasn't the only one that wanted to play hero. Dang! She took a moment to catch her breath all that running really killed her. She let out a "I'm here to help too. What can I do?" She saw several others moving some plants but she would wait until she got some direction she didn't want to do something and then get yelled at.

Leah smiled broadly at the compliment. "It's no surprise to see you either. You're one of the nicest Badgers I've ever met." It was true. And Cris was the smartest too, and would fit in nicely as a Ravenclaw too. His plan was the best EVER. She nodded as she listened. "I see. I'll help you!" she said eagerly and walked around, bending down to see whether a plant was still alive or not.

No, it was... dead. Its leaves were frozen. Touching the pot, she patted it slightly before moving on. Carrying a cold but not yet frozen plant, Leah carried it back to the wheelbarrow and placed it carefully in. Then she looked up to see the professor reply before heading off to find another plant to save.

Even having dashed back to her dorm to throw on a couple more sweaters as a shield against the cold, plus making sure her guitar was back in its case after a bit of a music break from studying for NEWTs, somehow Lily had still made it out to the grounds before too much had happened. Having long legs really seemed to be an advantage in emergency cases like this, and helping a professor in trouble was definitely an emergency case. At the very least, it had appeared most people were waiting for instruction from Professor Bentley, yet she’d caught the tail end of what the professor had said when she’d arrived. They were obviously needing to move the plants, since the greenhouse definitely wasn’t safe for them anymore. Not with the broken panes of glass that were letting in the cold and the wind, as she had shivered once almost involuntarily, burrowing her face into her scarf for a moment before she even attempted to talk.

She’d still sent Leah, Lux and Cris a smile, noting the boy’s wheelbarrow silently for another moment. That would work fine in the greenhouse, seeing as it didn’t look as if the weather had invaded too much, but she felt it could cause a problem if he tried using it to get the plants up to the castle. “Should we find some way to keep the plants warm while we move them?,” she asked, looking back toward the clearly stressed professor. She’d hide them inside her robes if she had to, or just take the robe off. As long as she kept moving she should stay relatively warm, and lugging plants up to the castle definitely would keep her moving.

She was still trying to wrap her mind around what had happened, what was happening, and what more needed to be done.... especially now that she had sent for the cavalry.

Lux's familiar voice alerted her to the girls arrival, but there was no immediate response as she still sifted through her thoughts. A mental checklist of sorts. It was only as there was a set of arms around her that she returned to reality, and returned the hug Lux had been kind enough to afford her. "... it's dreadful, just, dreadful..." she was officially hating winter now. "Thank you for coming so quickly," she managed a small smile, patting the Hufflepuff on the back as she withdrew from the hug.

"I suppose we should get down to work." The others had already made a solid start.



It wasn't long before more friendly faces showed up despite the nasty weather to pitch in, and Seren gave Leah an appreciative smile and nod. "I know you will.. you're all remarkable in that way," she admitted, her tone soft with admiration. Needless to say, the task move moving them all didn't seem so daunting in the end.



In fact, considering the promising group that was assembled, and her darling Lion Zander, things seemed to brighten just a smidgen. Not so dire. Not so dire... "Zander, you're a darling," she trilled, placing a hand on his shoulder before passing to inspect the flowerbeds. A challenge right there.

His exclamation behind her alerted her to his actions, "lift with your legs, not with your back," she cautioned, "though I'd give mobiliarbus a shot instead, conserve your energy... we'll be making a few trips."

But as for where the delivery was to be made... "The room just off it... where they used to hold dueling club meetings." He knew the room, no?



In all the ridiculousness and the crushing crushing sadness of it all, she managed to crack a grin and even chuckled a little. It was so hard not to when Kyroh was so cute. She could imagine her son having a spark like he did... "I'm counting on it Master Scabior," she mused with a solitary nod. "But you won't need to worry about being eaten..." they were, seven greenhouses away, and she ought to get to them first to sedate them. Just another thing for her to-do list.



Turning on her heel slightly so as to face Cris, she nodded to confirm his suspicions. "Yes, please... we have plenty of pots in the stores cupboard, but some will require engorging for them to be big enough...." root space, was essential for survival, even if it might be cosier in a smug-fit.



"My word it is soooo good to see you, Penelope," she clapped her gloved hands together gratefully at the Ravenclaw's arrival. "Would you mind assisting Cris in collecting some empty pots from the stores cupboard and making a start on digging up the plants from the flower beds please?"



And more help! HALLELUJAH! They would all be saved!... or most of them would be at least. And that was a start.

"Thanks for coming, Simon, I appreciate it," she started, greeting the Slytherin warmly. "Perhaps start by moving the potted plants to the room off the Great Hall... the one that was used for Dueling Club some time ago. The others are going to pot some of the plants from the flowerbed, if we can have them moved to the castle as quickly as possible that would be appreciated."



And wasn't she just a sight for sore eyes. "Arista!... Miss Royal!... Arista!" Seren greeted her little Lion warmly, pulling her into a hug... purely because she needed more hugs to cope with all this. "We could do with another re-potter if you're up for it, the plants in the flower beds will need to be moved as well... alternatively you could help move the already potted plants into the castle. There's a room off the Great Hall that I'm commandeering."




"If you can fill that barrow then perhaps grab another student to help you magic it to the castle," she suggested, not wanting to give the girl too great a task.

And speaking of tasks... she needed to put measures in place to organise anyone else who might how up.

It took her barely three seconds to summon her black board, and once it wheeled into view she flicked her wand at its surface and cursive words neatly formed there for all to see.