Robert picked up several shards not really paying attention and nodded at Lyra's suggestion. "Yeah some fresh air might be good." He stared at the ground not really seeing it. Maybe....maybe this was for the best. Everything that had just happened. Hearing Lyra thank her he thought she was talking about picking up and just nodded. It wasn't until she whispered loudly telling him to look that he looked up in confusion.

The sight that caught his eyes left his mouth wide open and he was about to get up since it didn't seem Bunbury was liking that at all when she ended it herself. Hearing Lyra he shook his head, "Lyra...leave it alone." He picked up his pile and stood up off the ground going to throw the pieces away. Of course metaphorically one should put it back together. he just shook his head never being one for charms and dropped the broken pieces into the garbage.

Lyra wore a cross between a frown and a pout when Robert told her NO! She couldn't believe that someone would actually tell her that besides the obvious. Her bottom lip stuck out as her brows lowered. "But..." she chimed in, wanting to say something but...couldn't. OH! Darnit! She would just...talk about it later!

"Fine," she began, crossing her arms to her chest. "I'll leave it for now, but don't expect me to hold gossip in! That is like telling me that I can't look in a mirror. It just doesn't happen and never will." If the girl knew anything, someone else would know about it too.

Back to the greenhouses, ahhhh what steamy wonders could these glass caverns hold. Too bad Bunbury was in a rush; Greenhouse Four was an interesting one, rather jungle-y and all.

She unlocked the door, not having recalled locking it in the first place, really, and beckoned Copernicus inside. "Come come. Helios, you stay out there; there's some bellis perennis out there just blooming by the door....pick six, please. Actually, don't pick them." Anastasia glanced down at the list still in her hand and frowned. "You'll need a spade to dig them up by the roots. Here." She marched into the greenhouse and emerged a second later with the gardening tool. "Be sure you get all their roots now, and if you don't know, that just the common daisy. Copernicus, follow me."

And then it was back into the hot, thick plants and ferns...some crowding over the others and reaching up toward the ceiling....making arches practically. Annie was on her way to the back of the room, however, and didn't waste time seeing if the Ravenclaw was still following.

Copernicus kept close to the Professor's heels as they entered the greenhouse, although he was careful not to step on her ACTUAL heels. That would be hazardous to his health. The greenhouse was hot and humid, and he wiped his face with his sleeve.

"Professor? Thanks for helping us with this whole... thing." Ummm.... one of the plants was going to eat him. Was it possible?

Helios simply nodded at the instructions, not wanting to speak with that terrible lisssssp the potionssss masssster had given him. Cloudy blue eyes looked at the spade sadly for a moment, sighing before setting upon his work.

For all his muscle, he was stuck digging up flowers. He was the portrait of a mans man as he gathered the daisies. Stooped over with his tool he dug up the six, roots and all. A seventh was simply picked and quickly slipped inside his robes.

Dirty and miserable, Helios rose from the dirt, six full daisies cradled in his arms. The flowers seemed to do little for his disposition.

"Hmm, what's that, Copernicus?" Bunbury have turned on her heel and spotted the boy awfully close next to one of her favorite plants, the darlington californica. She could see why he had stopped...it was called the cobra lily for a reason, although...why is that in this greenhouse? Isn't the heat going to drive it nuts?

Oh right, I did try breeding my Darling with the Venemous Tentacula... ahaahaa, so that's why that spiky tendril there is reaching for his hand...

Annie almost smiled at the sight of the boy and the plant, walking closer to Cope and casually slapping the sneaky vine away from him. "It's not a problem, really and uh," she turned away from the plant and eyed Copernicus briefly before continuing to the back of the greenhouse. "It's all part of my job."

That was the key, she had thought: maintain a professional distance and do not form silly emotional connections that will invariably wind up broken, therefore leaving you broken... or worse, in the gossip papers. But that was beside the point.

"Here we are, the passion fruit...I think that's what Kazimeriz was talking about when he was scribbled this list." She glanced down at the list and then back up at the bright green vine dancing around the greenhouse. "You need a dozen flowers from the vine and five or six fruits, so....go ahead and pick them." She waited to see what the boy would do and went back to frowning at the list in her hand. Hopefully Helios would be careful with the daisies and then just patiently wait outside...the boy was a bit odd though, so what was she to expect.

What was that? The boy looked up from the cradled flowers. Did someone think he was odd? No way...

The flora and fauna did not seem to find him to be odd at all. They almost seemed to reach out towards his golden hair that shined like sunlight. Soon enough he appeared to leave his worries in the cold, stone castle. The greenhouses reminded him of the natural comforts of the forest.

Thinking of which...was that a pair of lamps in the distance? Noo. Couldn't be.

Copernicus thought hard about what he knew about the passion fruit plant. Erm... not a whole lot, actually. He gave Bunbury a sheepish look, making sure to keep his hands clear of the flowers and fruit. "Professor, does he want the purple fruit or the yellow ones?" Cope spotted the large ripe yellow ovals tucked among the vibrant greens, but there were some smaller purple fruits in there as well.

"And is there a best way to collect the flowers so I don't harm the plant? Can I take fallen flowers?" He was SO not going to get in trouble for defacing plants, but they needed to HURRY. For CELA.

Did Bunbury hear the click of the greenhouse door? Did Hello Sunspot come back in or was that just her?

"Helios?" she called out, leaning up on her tiptoes a little to see if she could spot the boy. "Say something if you're there; I have another task for you yet."

She glanced back down at the list and then back to Copernicus. "Well he doesn't say." Obviously. Kazimeriz was just a senile old man who liked to give out tasks. Hmmph.

"Perhaps you should take some of both, just to be certain...." because it was all about 'saving Cela,' right. "If you're going to pick the small purple ones, though, you might want to be careful and use a pair of gloves. The skin of the fruit can be poisonous."

Oh yeah, and that was because she'd done a bit of crossbreeding with this vine too. How much though, er, she couldn't remember. "The flowers, he just says five flowers, soooo I think you'd want them to be fresh and not fallen. Wait, what sort of potion is this for, Kettleburn?"

That could make a difference, and the paper hadn't said....Bunbury blinked at the list again and then handed Cope a pair of her thick, pink dragonhide gloves.

Cope slid on the pink gloves and picked several of each variety of fruit, going for the ripest on the vine. And then he just... stared at the flowers. He was going to crush them if he wasn't... oh!

"It's a de-lusting potion she took too much of, Professor. I guess... Miss Toussaint didn't want to be distracted this term. You know how grades are so important." He blushed up his neck to his ears as he used a silent severing charm learned in this very class last term. The flowers drifted into his non-wandhand.

"Yessss, madam Bunbury." Pulled away from his thoughts of phantom headlights, Helios shuffled into the greenhouse, still unable to control his fork tongued lisp.

Cradling the daisies carefully, he passed among the rows of exotic plants, quietly humming a haunting dirge. Despite his bright and cheery appearence, if one looked hard enough, they could see the layer of melancholy beneath.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Cope slid on the pink gloves and picked several of each variety of fruit, going for the ripest on the vine. And then he just... stared at the flowers. He was going to crush them if he wasn't... oh!

"It's a de-lusting potion she took too much of, Professor. I guess... Miss Toussaint didn't want to be distracted this term. You know how grades are so important." He blushed up his neck to his ears as he used a silent severing charm learned in this very class last term. The flowers drifted into his non-wandhand.

Ah, good. Copernicus was good at this....harvesting thing. Right. Bunbury watched him silently, choosing not to comment on the de-lusting thing even though her eyebrows seemed to disappear in her hairline. Well then..... that... that was really amongst him and his brother and his... brother's girlfriend, right? Whatever the children were up to these days... honestly, she couldn't gossip. Bunbunz was in enough messes as it was.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helios Sunrider

"Yessss, madam Bunbury." Pulled away from his thoughts of phantom headlights, Helios shuffled into the greenhouse, still unable to control his fork tongued lisp.

Cradling the daisies carefully, he passed among the rows of exotic plants, quietly humming a haunting dirge. Despite his bright and cheery appearence, if one looked hard enough, they could see the layer of melancholy beneath.

But back to the task. Anastasia click-clacked over to a cupboard and grabbed a soft, large canvas bag for Cope & Co. "Here, put the fruits in here...you might as well keep the gloves with you...and there's a side pocket there for the flowers and daisies to fit in."

She smiled slightly and then turned to Helios. "I need you.....to...." she blinked at the boy for a moment, just whistling along like he had a lisp or something. She definitely didn't recall that from her earlier encounter with him in the kitchens, hmmkay. "Anywho, I need you to go dig some fluxweed up. I know there's a little bit down by the pond in the student gardens, and Kazimeriz wants it 'harvested' in the daylight, so hurry. It's the one with the purple flowers, you know, so uh, just take that spade from earlier...."

Bunbury trailed off, waiting for him to go before she remembered the peppermint. "Right, Copernicus, let's go back to my office. I know I have some herbs in pots around there...then you're almost done." Gingersnapple had liked the taste smell of her herbs. Oh, Gingy. Where was he?

Copernicus filled the bag and tucked the gloves into one of the pockets before he hefted the entire thing over one shoulder. "I'm set, Professor. Thank you for being so... quick about this. I know it isn't everyday you have to deal with the Potions supplies in the dungeon being unavailable all at once. It's nice that Professor Kazimeriz has the ability to tap into all these ingredients without even leaving the grounds."

Being officeless was not the best feeling in the world, and now that the staff room was flooded, Anastasia was spending more and more time in the greenhouses. They were rather sparse and not nearly as stylish or clean as her office had been, but it was a place. Gingersnapple liked wandering around and soaking up the sun in here anyway.

The redhead professor stepped inside and propped the door to greenhouse one open. It would be nice to get some fresh, breezy March air in here as long as Gingy didn't wander out. And she had some tinkering to do with those seeds from the beginning of the year and the giant lily pads....mmhmm...

Chris Potter was kinda bored and he hadn't been out on the grounds much. He headed over to the Greenhouses and spoted a door open. it was still kinda chilly out and he didn't want the poor plants to get cold, so he walked over ready to close it. When he looked inside he saw Professor Bunbury standing among all the plants.

"Hello Professor Bunbury how are you?" he asked obviously not about to close the door now. Why would he want to trap Bunbury in there. He liked her.

Revenge. Is. Bad. SWEEEET.

An evil smile formed on her face as Reese Upstead made her way down to the greenhouses. She hoped Professor Bunbury was down there, because she wasn't in the slightest mood to wander around the grounds/school to find the Professor. She mentally crossed her fingers as she came up to the greenhouses.

Please, let her be in here!

She looked at the six greenhouses and knew that someone was in the first greenhouse since the door was propped open. Shecasually walked into the greenhouse and looked around. Then, she saw her! Well, she saw her red hair, but it was her! But...she also saw Chris. Grrr. Prefect Potter was here. Maybe today wasn't the best day to come, but she was already her. She might as talk to the Professor.

She made her way over to Bunbury and smiled at Chris before she spoke. "Good day, Professor. I was just wondering if I could talk to you for a...bit?" she asked. She wasn't sure how long it would take to tell her all about Torin's crush on her. It might only take a few minutes for all she knew.

Anastasia heard someone approaching the greenhouse from behind and abruptly spun around, almost drawing her wand at the intruder. If it was Jacob "Cat Napper" Upstead, Merlin help her she WOULD start hexing....

But oh, it was just Prefect Potter and... well... the cat napper's sister. Or whatever Reese was.

"Hello, you two," she greeted the pair calmly, leaning against the counter where she had been working. "Erm, of course you may talk to me, Reese. Did you wish to speak in private?" Bunbury's blue eyes flicked toward Chris and back to her. If she was here to make amends for her sibling's misbehavior, well then, Bunz wasn't stopping her.

Chris watched as Bunbury turned around quickly to look at him and after he turned around he saw that he had been joined by Reese. "Hello Professor Bunbury. Hi Reese!" he said with a grin. He then heard Bunbury ask if Reese wanted to talk to her in private. "Oh well if that's the case, Professor I came down to help you with anything you need around here. I know it must be hard not to have an office. And when Reese is finished we can chat about stuff happening around the castle." He smiled brightly.

"Hello Chris," Reese greeted with another smile. She turned back to Professor Bunbury when she finally spoke. Did she wish to speak in private? Well, it would be mean if more than one person heard Torin's insane obsession with Bunbury. Honestly, this was only to be heard by the red-headed Professor standing right in front of her.

"Yes, I would," she answered. She looked over at Chris and gave him an apologizing look. "I'm sorry," she told him. Chris was here before him and she was being rude by taking the Professors attention, but...yeah. Too bad for Prefect Chris.

"That's kind of you to offer, Chris," Bunbury answered the boy. "You can keep an eye on those bouncing bulbs there," she tilted her head toward a plastic pot that was wriggling slightly, "while I talk to Miss Upstead for just a moment."

She smirked for a moment and turned back to the Slytherin, beckoning her with one finger to follow. Bunbury led the way around the work station aisle and down another aisle. Now there were tall ferns and heavy, stacked terra cotta pots surrounding them, and that was about as private as it was going to get in the greenhouse.

Bunbury folded her arms and waited for the blonde girl - she did have nice hair - to say something. Her face was absolutely impassive and unreadable, since obviously she had no clue what Reese was here for.

Chris nodded his head. "Well your very welcome. I will go watch them now why you two are talking." He flashed Reese a bright smile before he saw the two of them walk off down the rows of plants.

Now the bouncing balbs. He walked over to the pot she had pointed to and peered in. "Wow, you guys are cool." he said looking at the little off-white balbs bouncing around and rolling all around the pot.

Bouncing bulds? Hmm. Reese looked over at the wriggling, plastic pot and tried to get a glimpse of the plant. But, as she was trying to see it, Professor Bunbury ushered her to followed her. Okay. Talk now. Look at plants later. She followed behind the Profosser around the word station and down another isle. She glanced at the ferns stacked terra cotta pots as they walked down the isle. Quickly stopping once the Professor stopped, she looked up at the woman.

Unreadable face? She didn't like that. The Professor probably wanted to eat her for all she knew. She DID interrupt Bunbury's work with the plants. "So, erm, I just came to talk to you about...Torin. Torin Kane," she started. She didn't know where to start at. She took a deep breath and glanced at one of the ferns. "He likes you. I mean, he really really really realllllllly likes you. You are like all her talks about," Exaggerating much? "and he even framed your autograph you gave him! And, I've tried to tell him that someone as pretty as you and someone that is years older than him would never like him. He just won't listen."

Should she tell Bunbury she needs to tell Torin she is NOT interesting? Nope. She wasn't going to tell her that. If the Professor was smart, she would know to tell him.

"That's all I wanted to say," she said. "I just wanted you to know how Torin really felt about you."

Bunbury peeked over the top of the row of pots to see Chris talking to the bouncing bulbs - good, that was good. They liked human interaction.

She turned back to Reese, blinking a few times as her brain digested the girl's words before her eyebrows just about disappeared into her hairline. SHOCK!11!! What.... what..... WHAT?! Torin Kane, the shoe rescuer.... he... oh ewww, he LIKED her?! That was just plain AWKWARD.

And weird. Weird. She had always known that each child was odd in his or her own way, but this kid was just taking it to a whole nuther unacceptable level. Why couldn't Reese have come told her that, say, a certain handsome history professor actually liked her? Why why WHY did it have to be a student?

At least he was okay at Herbology and was a Hufflepuff... No, wait now, no, this was still wrong! Anastasia quickly shook her head, looking like she was clearing her ears from what she'd just heard.

"Well," Bunz said slowly, much quieter than normal, "Well. I do give good autographs but this... Mr. Kane..." she cleared her throat. "He's strange."

She started twirling a strand of hair around her finger then. She had to figure out something to do about the boy, now didn't she? Right? Students weren't supposed to like like their professors. Actually, maybe she didn't have to do anything at all as long as the boy didn't try to act on his feelings...

"Erm, thank you for sharing that bit of information with me, Miss Upstead," Anastasia spoke again, still nervously playing with her hair. "What do you.... do you think I should say something to the poor boy? He obviously doesn't have a chance with me, you know, I'm not THAT old but that's still inappropriate... I should probably let him down gently...???"

She was just talking out loud but maybe Reese would have a suggestion. She had come to Bunbury, after all, so she had to be worried about Torin. Or something.

With her gifts in hand, Torin made his way to the greenhouses to see Professor Bunbury. He finally managed to get away from Fyo for long enough.

Seeing that the door to one of them was open, he quietly walked in and started down the aisles, looking at the plants as he walked past. Where was Professor Bunbury?

Then he heard Reese's voice. What was she doing here? He didn't know her to be one to talk to Bunbury. Curious, he followed the voice until he could actually understand what the girl was saying.

His jaw dropped. Reese was telling her everything. He took a deep breath as embarrassment and pain hit him. His best friend was ratting on him and making it sound like he was crazy. He didn't know how things could get any worse.

Until he heard Bunbury's reply. She thought he was strange... She didn't really like him at all. Heartbroken, he look down at the gifts he had in his hands. Fyo was right all along...

Angry and mortified, he quietly turned around and headed back to the castle. Fyo was the only real friend he had at this place. Him., Vannie and Karma.

He tossed the gifts in the trash.

Reese shook her head slightly. "He's not that strange. I mean- he doesn't stalk you or anything. I know that as a fact," she said. "He just admires you. But, I think his obsession is getting way out of hand." Not the mention he's thinking about giving you love potion! She sighed as she pictured Torin writing down the ingredients for the potion. She would NEVER tell Bunbury that Torin was planning that. She still loved Torin and that was a secret she wasn't willing to tell.

"I don't want to see the poor kid hurt, but I think it's best you let him know you don't like him. Maybe just..." Don't accept any gifts from him. "Let him down easy. He's only 14. He'll get his heartbroken fast," she continued. "Just say you aren't interesting in dating someone as young as him and maybe if he was older, like 29, he might have a chance with you." That wouldn't hurt Torin, would it?

Hearing someone walk in, she didn't take the time to turn around and see who it was. She brushed her hand through her hair and brought her attention back to the fern she was looking at earlier. "Just...don't upset him, like I said before. I can't see my best friend upset," she said. Torin was still her best friend, even though he lied to her and told Jack her secret. She was still mad, but nothing was going to get between their friendship. And, if Torin didn't know about her getting revenge, everything would be fine. Right? "Oh, don't tell Torin you heard about his obsession from me," she quickly added. "If he asked where you heard it from, just tell him you have your sources." She nodded.