She looked at the plant... it was floating. She turned to her boyfriend, his wand was out... Aw. He was going to help her out after all.

"Bye professor!" She smiled and walked to Alex, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I need to get to a bathroom and wash my hands... thank you for helping."

He smirked, "uh ha," He followed her out plants floating along behind him.

Apedemak held back, waiting for the other students to begin their repotting. As much as he had enjoyed working in the previous Herbology class it was still a foreign subject to him. Watching both Xana and Prefect Trelawney, he felt confident the procedure was relatively straight forward. Running his hands over a few of the pots he picked one that felt right to the touch. A few gentle handfuls of rocks soon covered the bottom of the vessel and were followed after by the layer of pebbles.

Eschewing the trowel in favor of his own hands, so that he could feel the potting soil; it simply felt more natural that way. Filling the vessel as instructed the Sudanese boy turned to the Soul Mirror. With steady hands he gently lifted the plant from its former pot and centrally placed it within his own chosen vessel before filling the edges with new soil and a thin layer on top. Last, he finally used the trowel to sprinkle the fertilizer into the vessel.

Armand watched Apedemak as he carefully tended to the repotting of the plant. Lack of trowel, handling things with such care... He raised a brow and approached the boy. "My, you seem to be a natural at this."

Fertiliser? What was that? Didn't he just put that in the pot? And what was with the numbers? He looked what everyone else was doing, and it seemed they were taking more soily stuff from another bag. Marco picked up a handful of the soily stuff and put it in his pot. There was an odd pain in his hands, sort of a burning pain. It was suffice to say, he wasn't all there today. Not that he was ever really all there. But today was more so.

So Erikson was going away. Shame, he had noone to help him take care of this plant. He didn't even know what the plant was. He guessed he had to water it, but that was about it.

‘Merlin’s pants!’ Emily's eyes widened as Professor Erikson annonced he was going away. What about her wee plant? Ems had no clue what to do next with it. How often should she water it? When to fertilize? The light it required? She rested her chin on her hand and gazed at the poor thing. It would more than likely have died by the time the Professor got back from his holidays.

She glanced around the classroom at the other students, her eyes resting on Cassandra Trelawney. Maybe Ems could ask her for assistance – she seemed to be particularly good at Herbology – but she was also quite scary as well. She then looked over at …Xana? She was a possibility, if Ems could ever catch her. She hadn’t seen the older girl to talk to since the beginning of term. She sighed sadly as she looked back at her creation - Ems really wanted to do well on this assignment. She looked over at the professor, who was currently busy with Xana. She gave them both a small smile before gathering up her belongings and making her way out of the classroom.

“Thank you Professor.” Apedemak bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment of the compliment. “Something about the soil simple feels . . . natural to me.” The Sudanese boy seemed frustrated with his own usage of the language. “It is unlike the course sands of Eqypt; more like the rich earth of my home.”

He nodded to Apedemak then caught what Marco was doing. With a groan he excused himself and went over to Marco. "Marco, didn't you hear a word I said? Fertilizer will burn you!" He pulled the boy's hands away from the stuff and frowned, looking them over. "Really Marco, use your head. You always need to take care with chemicals. It's basic ch-- potions. Always handle your components with care." Chemistry? Did that exist for wizards? He'd gotten buried so deep in it he'd completely forgotten. He sighed. "You're being burnt. Go wash your hands before it gets worse."

Kayla had been busy staring at her plant so as not to look at Xana and the Professor and it took her a while to realise that Xana had left. Damn it! Kayla got out of her chair slowly and made her way to the door. Now she would have to try and track her down or maybe she could try and look after the plant herself...no not an option.

"What?" Marco looked up at Erikson, then down at his hands. "What is fertiliser?" He wiped his hands on his robes. They looked a bit red. "I didn't know soily stuff was potions. I just thought it was more soily stuff like the other stuff I was using. I copied everyone else." He looked back at his hands, they looked more red, but his robes seemed to be surviving.

He sighed. "Marco, do pay attention is class, will you? Fertilizer is a set of compounds, whether chemical or organic, which gives nutrients to a plant. Chemical fertilizers, like the one you just had your hands in, could cause chemical burns to your skin. Potions are in everything, you know. In fact, potions and herbology are rather intimately connected." He looked over the burns now that Marco had brushed it off on his robes, but shook his head. "Go wash your hands, the scourgify your robes so you don't get more on your skin. I've got a salve that will help if you don't want to go to the medical ward."

"I do pay attention. I know that this plant glows colours, well a colour anyways. And something about curses turning it other colours. Cruciatus curse makes it silvery," Marco nodded. "A salve? But my hands are ok. They only hurt a little bit." He pulled his wand out of his pocket, and dropped it, "Ow...ok maybe they hurt a bit more than I expected."

"Marco I swear you are being deliberately difficult." He was stern, but there was concern in his eyes. "Come on," he said, dragging the boy out of the greenhouse. Once outside he used an aguamenti spell to wash off the boy's hands and scourgified his robes clean. Now that they were away from the prying eyes and ears of students, he spoke quietly. "And really, what's got you in such a tiff today? I know the NEWTs can be a stressful time, but this is a little much. Even for you."

"Deliberately difficult?" Marco shook his head. He didn't think he was being difficult. Things were hard. It was odd being dragged out of a class by a teacher. He felt like he was in trouble and he didn't even have the strength to fight back, not that he had the chance. He smiled at the teacher as he washed his hands and clothes, "Thank you Sir."

"A tiff? Well I guess my mind is on other things. I have alot of things going on at the moment. Plants aren't really high on my list." He looked at the floor, "I am sorry for arguing and shouting at you."

"I can't say I was in the best of moods to deal with it myself," Armand muttered. "Apedemak chided me before I stopped. Me, chided by a student." He pulled out a small jar and opened it. "Marco, regardless of the past we have had, you know you can come talk to me. Or at least talk with someone. It tends to help. The more you try to keep a burden to yourself, the worse it gets. Trust me on this one." He carefully applied the salve to Marco's hands. The stuff numbed the burns and quickly began to heal them.

"Thank you Sir. But the things I am burdened with I kind of have to deal with myself. NEWTs, and well other things," Marco smiled weakly. The salve sort of tingled. It was an odd sensation. "Thank you Sir. It feels alot better."

He nodded. "Well, my office door is always open if you just need someone to lend an ear. Also, if you have any intention of passing your Herbology NEWTs. I swear you're nearly as bad as Slade."

"Well I have been revising. Oh and almost hitting first years with the text book," Marco laughed. Those firsties were getting on his nerves. "Is Slade the one that killed the unkillable then?"

He smirked. "Nearly. I water it every time I see the poor plant, and I think it's still got some life to it. But without me around, yes, it would be dead. Entirely. Sadly, herbology is not for everyone. Certainly not for him, and likely not for you. Back when we were in school, I was his only saving grace in getting any sort of decent grade on his NEWTs. Once he graduated he forgot all of it. Needless to say, he still comes to me if he needs a plant raised."

"I don't think I could kill a plant. Though...it probably is possible," he laughed. He could probably neglect a plant enough to kill it. He made a mental note not to ever have plants in his house. "I think Alice is more of the Herbologist. She'll keep the plants in shape. Not me."

He chuckled and decided to keep his mouth shut about Alice. "A good idea. If you need help on this assignment, ask Cassandra or Xana. Either of them should be able to help you." He smirked then. "If I get back, let me know how the quidditch game goes."

"If you get back? Are you not expecting to? I thought you were going on like a little holiday. They don't involve not returning, usually," Marco frowned. What sort of trip was the Professor going on?

Armand froze. Had he actually said that? "When I get back. Sorry, slip of the tongue." But his demeanor had changed, walls coming back up in his mind, clouding his eyes. Marco had enough on his plate. He didn't need to be thinking about such things. "When I get back, I want to hear how well we've done. And I want to see Slytherin still in the lead."

He had heard if hadn't he? Marco frowned. He wasn't going completely crazy, surely. He blinked and nodded, "Yes Sir. When I see you after the game I will tell you. Please don't die Sir. I don't want you to get killed while you are away."

Armand swallowed hard, but offered the boy a smile. "I'm certainly going to try not to. I'm rather enjoying life, despite dealing with troublesome students like you." It was a poor attempt at humor, but one nonetheless. "Now, get back to your plant, and be gentle with it. Please."