Bunbury had started tapping her foot while she waited for the children to come in and clean up their mess...when lo and behold, one she hadn't even asked for arrived.

"Er, greetings, Miss Toussaint," she addressed the girl, eying her once up and down. She hadn't seen this one yet...but she found the girl's request interesting.

"Of course," Anastasia responded promptly. "Feel free to conduct any independent study here, actually, as long as it's not beyond your abilities." She waved a hand at the surrounding plants, most of which were mundane and easily replaceable. They still deserved the utmost respect, of course.

She had just noticed the door opening as little Juniper walked in, nodding to the girl. "Miss Goodwin, if you still wish to help, there's a bucket and mop there..." she tilted her head toward the one the girl had left out. Juniper could spot the footprints from earlier, surely.

Then the other Claw spoke again. "My shoes?" she asked, blinking suddenly. "What about them?" Perhaps this could be another independent study for the girl.

Cela smiled brightly at Juniper before turning her attention to the Professor.
"Oh thank you!" she answered brightly, looking around at the plants, "Could you suggest which would be the best for me to start with, as a third year?" Cela asked hopefully.

Celandine looked at Juni as Professor Bunbury told her to help with... Cela looked around, "Oh! Do you need me to help with anything, Professor?" Ooooh Nicholai would freak at the amount of mess there was in here! Though to Cela it wasn't tooooooooo bad.

"Your shoes are really pretty." Cela started, in earnest, "And girly. I don't have any shoes that have heels like that. But I think... I think I'd like some. It's just that they look a little difficult to walk in and I'd like to learn."

Juniper started as the professor addressed her. She had expected it, that was true, but she had not really been paying attention. It was a good thing that the professor had begun with her name, or else Juniper would not have responded at all.

"Of course I would still like to help," Juniper said politely, taking the mop and bucket. Her eyes swept over the ground as she looked for something to mop up, and she noticed footprints marking the path someone had taken earlier. Juniper carried both mop and bucket over to the general vicinity, walking slowly as to avoid spilling anything from the bucket. She set the bucket down and dipped the mop in.

It was times like these when she wondered how Muggles did without magic. At her home, her mother simply used magic to clean up muddy messes, Juniper thought as she began mopping the floor. But Muggles--they had to clean without magic, all the time. It was a wonder they were ever tidy. She dipped the mop back into the bucket before scrubbing vigorously at the footprints once more with the mop.

"Mud is sure talented at sticking to things," Juniper noted as she worked to mop up the muddy footprints. "Just think how muddy this person's shoes must be!"

Lyra followed Professor Bunbury to the green house, a little disappointed that she hadn't been able to help clean up. 'Wow this place looks really clean. I wonder how she cleaned up so fast. Magic, I suppose.'

Lyra turned to the two other girls near her, both Ravenclaws. One she thought was named Juniper. The other girl talking to her seemed to be a few years older than Lyra. "Hi, I'm Lyra, she said."

"Would you like me to do anything, Professor Bunbury?" she asked.

"Professor Bunbury" Aura gave her a quick smile and noticed she had forgotten the footprint by the furtilizer shed and bit her lip quickly, oops, didn't get that... she thought to herself as she walked into the room.

"If you need anymore help, or anything, Please let me know." Aura gave her a quick smile, her cheeks slightly flushed due to the recent embarassment elsewhere as well as in the greenhouse. Her clumsyness had made her the culprate here.

Hmm, what to start with....Anastasia tapped a finger on her chin and then turned and pointed at the end of a row of big, thick, black, giant slug-like plants two rows over.

"Bubotuber," she stated with a nod. "They would be an interesting specimen to draw....." and that might give you a head start for class. "Just be careful not to touch any because they might spurt on you." And that pus is just horridly painful, trust me.

She smirked at the girl and nodded in regards to her shoes. "Prada," Annie stated simply. "They're one of my favorites." She twirled her foot around, showing off the shoes as she basked in the girl's attention. "If you happen to get a pair of classy heels from somewhere, come talk to me, Miss Toussaint. I'd be more than happy to give you some fashion advice." Bunbury showed off her pointy teeth again in another wide smile.

Anastasia turned from talking to Celandine as she noticed the other Claw starting to mop away. She eyed her cleaning critically, looking for something to complain about. But Miss Goodwin was such a good helper, she spotted the muddy footprints all by herself.

"Good work, Juniper," Annie complimented. "Take two points to Ravenclaw for that."

She nodded at mention of sticky mudness - ugh, that was why she hated the gunk. It was just so...so...clingy. Shudder.

And then the other two Ravenclaws wondered in. Well, she was going to put them to work.

"You," she started, pointing a long, red nail at the clumsy one who had created the first mess, "You may start cleaning the glass walls in here." She turned her finger from the girl to a cabinet in the back. "You'll find Muggle Windarx -- er, Windex -- in there, as well as some paper towels."

She nodded and then turned to Lyra. "Do you still wish to help clean? If so, you may join your housemate at the windows...." She left it open-ended, waiting to see what the little girl would do.

"I wouldn't want to have muddy shoes." Celandine noted, "I wouldn't be able to skate around as easily."

"Hi, I'm Celandine." Cela introduced herself politely before turning to smile at Professor Bunbury.

Cela stared at the older girl who looked all embarassed before shaking herself and offering a comforting smile. "Are you okay?"

"Bubotuber." Celandine repeated, happily eyeing the plant. "I'll be careful." Celandine nodded, "Would you like me to show you my diagram when I'm finshed, Professor Bunbury?" Cela offered, her dark eyes wide and her expression earnest.

"Prada." Cela repeated the unfamiliar word, "Classy heels." She nodded, "Oh yes, I'll get some. Thank you." Cela looked down and marvelled at the professors shoes for a few more minutes. Celandine had offered to help herself but apparently it wasn't necessary. Though she was wary about making a mess herself. Carefully she pointed her wand at her shoes and used one of the spells Nicholai taught her to keep her shoes dry. If they were dry, then any dirt she stood in wouldn't turn into mud and wouldn't track anymore dirty footprints around right?

She smiled brightly up at the Professor, "May I be excused to draw the plant now? Or would you prefer I helped too." Cela asked politely. Oh Professor Bunbury was really pretty.

Annie turned back to Celandine, having totally forgotten about her offer to help clean. Ah, well, she hadn't done anything wrong in Bunbury's opinion and therefore she didn't need to clean. And she had her drawings to focus on anyways.

"Sure, sure," Anastasia agreed. "Bring it class." She winked at the girl and nodded at her desire to aquire some heels. Hmm, perhaps she could help the girl with that....she did get an owl-order discount while ordering more than thirty-five pairs at a time.

"Yes dear, enjoy your drawing." She was tempted to pat the sweet girl on the head but resisted it - young children were so adorable but rumor was that they didn't like feeling 'patronized.' Pfft, whatever. As long as they didn't cause trouble like the older ones, she would be nice to the kiddies.

Speaking of which....Anastasia turned back to stare at the seventh-year Ravenclaw girl and the younger one. "If you girls don't mind," she stated loudly in a tone that implied that they wouldn't mind if they knew what was good for them, "I'd like those windows to shine so bright I can admire my reflection in them." She crossed her arms and glared, as if her ice blue eyes were saying, 'Well?! Hop to it!'

On his way towards the Quidditch Pitch, Dominic decided to take a small detour down by the greenhouses instead. After all, if a Herbology Professor wasn't in her office, then perhaps in the greenhouse would make most sense for them to be. So he thought.

Walking by, a small smile crept along his lips as he heard the voices within the walls of the house which unsurprisingly held, plants. Along with a rather bossy and annoying tone of an older sounding woman, 'I'd like those windows to shine so bright I can admire my reflection in them.' Oh for the love of CANARIES - and people thought HE was egomaniac!?

Ugh, but nonetheless he HAD to share the sonnet with ALL the staff, as that was the requirements. No matter what their personalities, he would complete this feat.

Knocking lightly on the door to the greenhouse, he waited as patiently as possible for admission, albeit wanting more than ever to just get it over with.

Cela winked back happily and immediately took her things and found a nice spot to draw the plant from. She took out everything she needed and began to sketch the plant in contentment.

Jessica ran in order to catch up with Professor Bunbury. She finally got to the greenhouses, where many other students seemed to have work to do. Still wondering what could have caused such a mess, the Hufflepuff asked her Herbology Professor: "Is there anything I can do?" hoping that indeed there was, but something she could do by magic, nevertheless.

Juniper did not halt her mopping even when the professor complimented her mopping skills. Instead, she beamed at the floor, which was beginning to take on a glossy sheen due to her intense mopping. Taking a deep breath, Juniper held the mop out of her way and examined the floor. There was no evidence that there had previously been muddy footprints tracking across the floor.

Backing away from the freshly mopped floor so as not to slip, Juniper gently thwacked the mop on the inside of its bucket. That was the only way she could think of to get the mop water out of the mop and back into the bucket where it was supposed to be.

"Erm. Professor, is there anything else to clean?" Juniper asked the professor. She did not think there should be, but it was polite to ask. And politeness was key.

Anastasia almost jumped when she heard a light knock on the door to the greenhouses. She was that intent on watching people clean, yes, that the sound startled her.

"Come in, boy, it isn't locked," she stated to the kid at the door. Before he had a chance to even touch the doorknob, however, she eyed his appearance up and down his handsome frame. Hmm, he was clean, neat, tidy and a Hufflepuff Prefect. She liked him already.

Annie turned her head then when Jessica spoke, distracting her from evaluating the boy's Prefect any further. "Oh yes, you may help these girls clean the windows," she gestured toward Lyra and Aura, "or..." she looked about quickly when Juniper spoke, trying to find some sort of dusty or flithly object for the girls to clean, "or I suppose that's all."

Really, her greenhouses were that clean still? It had been what, a whole week into the term and they remained untarnished? Well well, Hogwarts was exceeding her expectations after all.

Which reminded her of Juniper, one Ravenclaw that certainly did more than what was expected of her. "Thank you so much, Miss Goodwin, dear," she said kindly to the girl, pointing her wand at the dirty bucket and mop. At once, the mop rung itself out and then zoomed to a tool holder on the wall, clicking into place. Likewise, the bucket hovered over to a large tray of moss, dumped the empty water on the plants, and then zoomed to a hook on the wall where it latched its handle on and stayed put.

"There's nothing else for either of you to clean, I guess...unless anyone wishes to help with the window-washing?" She made the chore sound lucrative although it truly involved no magic, skill, or enjoyableness whatsoever. Still, some House points were up for grabs if they worked well...

As Dominic was waiting for the okay to enter the greenhouses - hoping for the love of Merlin that the Professor was in here - the fifth year listened to the other voices in here. It seemed they were on a cleaning spree and the older woman's voice heard in there was the head honcho.

Before he could dwell anymore on the subject and change his mind about coming here, the door swung open and very well dressed woman in heels spoke to him to enter. Hmm, why was she eying him like some piece of fresh meat? Surely a redhead like her couldn't possibly be interesting in a fourteen year old. The thought was nauseating.

"Thank you," he murmured quietly, taking a step over the threshold as he surveyed who was in the room. Girls. And more of them than Dominic could ever imagine - only two he recognized though - Jessica, a Hufflepuff from last year who was a friend of Kaika's and Juniper, a rude new Ravenclaw who collided into him in the streets.

"While washing windows does sound charming, I'd much prefer to speak with you, er..." he eyed the other females cautiously before whispering to Bunbury, "Privately. I have something to share with you. A welcoming present, if you will." Though Dominic doubted she was talking to him of the window wishing, he figured it necessary to mention anyway. Oh wait, perhaps mentioning his name would have also be nice to mention too?

"Forgive me, My name is Dominic Denton. Fifth Year," he added on politely.

Lyra nodded and grabbed a bucket, rags, and Windex and started rubbing dirt and smudges off the walls of the greenhouse. A bit embarrassed, Lyra realized that she could only reach about a third of the way up the wall.

He was lost. Positively lost.

Which was a tinsy teeny bit worrying seeing as this was his fifth year at Hogwarts. Greenhouses, when did they appear? Well, they'd probably been there for all the time he'd been here, although somehow stuff like greenhouses didn't stay in his mind. Walking towards the glass huts, he looked inside, and almost bolted in a second, but kept his feet walking forwards. Sometimes cleaning was a good thing. Riiigght.

Right.

Knocking once on the door, then pushing it open enough so he could get his head through, Sebastian gave the woman who was in there a grin. "D'you need another spare pair of hands?" He asked, his mind suddenly dwelling on the fact that he was six foot five and could help with the higher spots. Stupid height. It really was.

Jessica nodded as Professor Bunbury told her to join the other two girls and clean the windows. Although there wasn't much fun in the activity, the Hufflepuff just wanted to be her helpful self once more.

As she started working, she noticed Dominic Denton, and nodded as he came closer. However, he seemed keen on having a private word with the professor, so Jess didn't look in that direction anymore.

Instead, she noticed a girl ,who seemed to be a firstie, having trouble reaching the whole surface of the wall.
"Let me help you." she told the girl. (Lyra)

Anastasia titled her head to the side just slightly as she watched and waited for the Hufflepuff to make his way across the greenhouse. Oi, that boy walked slow.

"What in the name of Merlin's Pants would you need to show me privately that these fine students couldn't see?" she asked sharply, arching a perfectly coiffed red brow.

Calling it - whatever it was - a 'welcome present' didn't help either. Right away, Bunbury's mind jumped to conclusions as she imagined a homemade prank or one of those cherry bombs wrapped up in a banana peel....ugh. There was no way she could trust Mr. Denton privately.

She peeped just over his head at the students washing windows, nodding happily to see the firstie going right to work while the older Huffie girl offered her aid. Ahh, it was so nice to see everyone working together...cleaning...cleaning her greenhouses. Pleasant, really.

And then another boy walked in, clearly an older and taller Hufflepuff who had probably mistaken the greenhouse for something else. But then he offered aid - and Anastasia Bunbury was never one to turn down a willing pair of hands.

"Certainly," she called out to the boy. "Grab a rag and help those girls clean the upper parts of the windows."

Celandine was engrossed in her sketching, fingers covered in charcoal and marks on her face. She eyed the bubotuber and compared her sketch with it then rummaged in her bag to pull out a herbology textbook. She added some notes and put the book away again.

She heard a funny squidgy noise and smelt a petrol sort of scent and looked at the bubotuber. Ewww.... one of the pustules was leaking pus. Knowing that it could be dangerous if someone silly touched it, Celandine put on some gloves and approached the plant cautiously. Errr... no point wasting the pus right? Nopers.

She picked up a little container and as carefully as possible she scraped the leaking pus into it, being careful not to touch any of the other pustules or the pus itself in the process. She watched the creepy looking plant squirm about and put a lid on the container. Hmmm there was still some residue on the plant... would it be ok just to evanesco it? Cela wasn't sure.

"Excuse me, Professor Bunbury?" Celandine stepped away from the plant, her gloved hands held out in front of her and the little container of pus in her hands, "The bubotuber was leaking pus so I put some gloves on and scooped most of it up but I wasn't sure if it was safe to evanesco the residue or how else I should get rid of it without making the rest of the pustules leak goop too." She wrinkled her nose at the smell and waited for instructions.

"And I've finished my sketch." She added quietly, still eyeing the bubotuber.

Dominic blinked at the way the redhead watched and waited for him to state his business, but that wasn’t the only bad thing it seemed. She didn’t seem to trust him at all!! For the love of canaries, he was a Prefect and in Hufflepuff, it wasn’t like he was going to trip her and hex her into oblivion. Although perhaps a few tweaks to her brain would do her justice…

"Something that I wrote," he answered quickly and honestly, not willing to give away that it was a poem just yet. Ugh; how squeamish that would make him if people knew that he wrote poetry. Especially girls.

The fact that she just didn’t seem to trust him at all though was just out right irritating. Sighing quietly, he watched as she flipped her hideously gorgeous redhair away in the direction of the window washers.

Until an older boy – thank Merlin for him – entered and offered his aid. For a moment, Dominic was worried that she had mistakenly told him to wash windows. And touch one of THOSE dirty rags that had been handled by Merlin only knows how many grimy students.

Listening as Cel-an-dine approached the professor, calling her ‘Professor Bunbury’, Dominic mused at that name. What kind of name was ‘Bunbury’? Perhaps she got berries stuck in her buns as a child or something. Maybe that was why she didn’t trust even a prefect…

Nonetheless, he had a task to fill and he was GOING to fill it. No matter what it took.

"Well, you'll at least show me your flowers, won't you? If you won't let me READ something to you..." Yes, best change the topic to something it seemed the high-powered, conceited redhead would enjoy. Or had a weakness for. Or something like that.

Anastasia turned her red head toward the young Ravenclaw calling out her name. Immediately, her icy blue eyes zoned in on the container of bubotuber pus in Celandine's hand, then her eyes darted to the girl's innocent expression, down to the plant in question, and back to Celandine's face.

"Excellent job, dear," she stated quietly, nodding at the sketch. "And excellent work collecting the pus as well." She reached a hand out for the little container, gently taking it from Celandine's hand as she walked over to the plant. "Hmm, no, once one pustule goes the others are sure to follow...if you wouldn't mind just collecting those for me...."

She straightened back up and pointed her wand over her shoulder at the cabinet behind her, the door of which popped open to reveal more little pus-collecting containers and a few pairs of gloves.

"Help yourself." Bunbury smiled her pointy-toothed grin and then walked her high heels back over to Mr. Denton.

Bunbury crossed her arms and waited for the Hufflepuff to speak - nervous, was he? "What exactly did you write?" she interrupted before he could elaborate. "There's really no need for me to show you the flowers," Annie said, scoffing at the thought, "since learning is mostly an independent activity." And are you really that thick that you can't spot the difference between a tulip and a daffodil?!

She blinked once at him, wondering if she was picking up on a rude tone?! Shame shame, he would come to regret speaking like that. "Actually I'd prefer to hear what you have to READ," Annie continued, "and I'll thank you NOT to make assumptions for me in the future." Finishing her sentence with a cold stare, the redhead waited for a response from the Prefect she was coming to think of as a know-it-all.

Dominic couldn't help but notice that this Bunbury character seemed to be far more interested and nicer to the females and vaguely wondered if she were given them fashion lessons. Merlin he hoped not, as her style wasn't exactly the most tasteful. For a Herbology Professor anyway. Besides, his looks were far more charming, but he doubted she would want to hear that either.

Gulping when she demanded to know what he wrote, he removed the parchment from his robes, all while eying Cel-an-dine and the bubotuber pus carefully. "Just a - memoir." He stated simply enough, frowning at her crossed arms. "An independent activity," he murmured inaudibly. "I couldn't help but agree with you on that one." Yes, anyone who knew Dominic knew he was mostly out for himself. With the occasion of someone else, but those instances were rare...

"Oh no assumptions made about you, Miss --?" he paused, as she had not yet introduced herself. "Unless you count the apparent likes for lavish, high-heeled shoes, which are quite ... lovely" Compliments, yes. She seemed she would enjoy that, maybe. "But right, the memoir now," he sighed, gulping nervously and deciding it was best to hand it over to her as he did Professor Morgan. "Here you are," he passed her the parchment.

Cela turned and offered one comforting smile to Dom-in-ick, intending to communicate that Professor Bunbury was ultra-nice and he didn't need to look so... well Cela didn't have a word for it so she merely shrugged and turned to the cabinet, taking a fresh pair of gloves and a few containers.

She stood on an angle to the plant, so that any pustules that burst wouldn't get on her, and held the container over the pustules that were beginning to burst. She screwed up her nose as the petroly smell grew worse, but continued to harvest the icky pus as asked.

She was careful to put a lid on each container as the pus oozed into it, and doubly careful not to get any on herself. The bubotuber itself waved about alarmingly, slick and black and practically pulsating like some icky sluggy tongue.

It was kind of beautiful.

Once she had finished harvesting all the pus, and all the pustules had burst, Cela carefully placed the containers aside and took off her gloves, immediately checking she had none on her uniform and sighing in relief when she didn't. She carefully went to her sketch and added the pus in before placing it between the pages of her herbology book and smiling brightly at Professor Bunbury.

"Where would you like me to put the harvested pus, Professor?" Cela asked politely, watching Dom-in-ick curiously as he passed the professor a note.

The boy's nervousness certainly didn't escape Anastasia's notice; in fact, watching him visibly gulp as he unrolled his little scroll only made her smirk wider. Excellent...if the children didn't respect her then they could at least fear her. Or...well....was it too much to ask for both?

"You may address me as Professor Bunbury, Mr. Denton," she replied calmly, tempted to tap her shoe while she waited for him to get on with it. "And thank you, I do have a taste for fashion if I do say so myself." Bunbury flipped a silky section of long red hair over one shoulder and snatched the scroll from the boy's hands, her icy blue eyes darting across it rapidly.

Kaz...hmm, that would be crazy Kaziwaziwhatever, she continued reading. Tearless cries? HA! He cries! She paused in the poem and eyed Dominic up and down one more time - he did have a few feminine qualities about him, no surprise there.

Bunbury glanced back down at the parchment and continued once more, becoming more and more confused as the syntax worsened and the boy used some words she didn't even know. What kind of a word is deist anyways? she thought to herself, exhaling deeply.

The last part, however, did meet her approval. Kings....I could live with that, although Queen or Your Highness would be more appropriate. She smiled at Dominic and tapped the parchment with one finger.

"Now tell me, Mr. Denton, why did you so wish to share this memoir with me?" Anastasia's genuine smile turned into a smirk as she locked eyes with the boy. "And don't even think of lying...I have my ways of always rooting out the truth."

She continued beaming her blue eyes on his topaz ones, not even moving when she heard Celandine call out to her. "Just put the filled containers in the bottom drawer of that same cabinet, dear," she mentioned without turning around. "And take five points for your most generous help."

Cela was curious about what Dom-in-ick and Professor Bunbury were talking about of course, but when Professor Bunbury addressed her, directing her to put the containers away; Celandine immediately turned to do so, pausing and turning immediately towards the Professor as she awarded her points.

"Thank you, Professor Bunbury." Celandine smiled politely, shot a quick curious glance at Dom-in-ick and put away the containers of bubotuber pus.

Straightening up, Cela gathered her things and checked her sketch again before heading to the door stopping to say goodbye first, "Thank you for letting me do the sketch, Professor; I'm looking forward to your class." She eyed the note and bit her lip, curiously looking at Dom-in-ick, "See you, Dom-in-ick." Cela offered before turning and leaving the greenhouses.