Closed Of Sunflowers and Squids PV Elizabeth Lovett

Elizabeth never knew how to spend her days. She hadn't been at Hogwarts long, and in that time she had managed to do little else than sulk. She had been sorted into a house that she didn't believe was fitting, and on top of that, all of her classes thus far had been horribly boring. All about the basics.

The worst was her Herbology class. Having been raised by a healer with his very own garden, she had been raised to know the basics. The poor girl yearned for adventure, and could barely stay awake through lectures on the many uses of the weeds in the common witch's garden. For this reason, she often found herself chatting with her classmates quietly from where she sat in the back of the class.

It had been there that a Ravenclaw had mentioned to her wanting to explore some of the other greenhouses on the property. This had piqued her interest, and she had made plans to go check it out the next day.

The young Hufflepuff had weaved her way through the impressive glass structures. The school's greenhouses. Each was a little grander than the last.

She was nearly giddy, wondering what new (to her) magical plants grew within the older years' green houses. If she found anything of interest she would have to write to her father immediately and tell him! He was a plant fanatic.

In the distance, she could hear a class reach dismissal, obvious by the sudden loud chatter of students and scraping of chairs as they packed up to go to their next classes. She kept her head low, weaving behind one of the buildings. She noticed in the very back there was an especially large plant that had grown nearly out the top of the building! She thought it looked familiar, though she couldn't quite place it as she turned the corner to walk towards it.

A boy seemed to materialize right in front of her face, and Elizabeth shrieked, completely caught off guard. Who would be all the way back here? She had fallen back a step, clutching her chest, but it didn't take her long to recognize the Ravenclaw. "You!" Lizzy realized how loud she had been and huffed, "You." She regained her usual overly confident posture, shoulders back and chin forward. "What are you doing back here? Do you often play around in the weeds?" Clearly, the girl was embarrassed from having been startled so easily, and it brought out her snippy tone.

The flagstones beneath his feet had the occasional smattering of relentless weeds, which grew through the cracks and spaces, anywhere they could possibly push up through they had tried to do precisely that. At first it was just the odd dandelion, a couple of daisies, nothing to be concerned about, yet a little further afield from the greenhouses themselves, in less pruned parts of the grounds, he spotted larger and stranger looking plants he couldn't quite identify. Native to the Highlands, perhaps?

He spied way too many bundles of nettles for his liking, and some sharp looking thistles. Sure, there were plenty of regular old plants he'd known from the muggle side of the world, but that didn't stop them from being any less pesky. Maybe he ought to avoid wandering too far from the beaten path...

He rounded one of the greenhouses, hardly paying attention to anything other than the wildflowers in the distance, and almost ran right into another student. Thankfully their shriek was enough to have him pause in place, gaze snapping from the natural weeds to look upon her. It was the redhead from his Herbology class... Elizabeth. They sat next to one another.

Initially he was excited to see her there, after all they had been discussing the various other greenhouses the previous day in class. And yet as she began her loud and accusatory words he sheepishly took a step back and flushed.

"I... I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I didn't mean to startle you, honest!"

Her embarrassment was evident upon her expression, and he realized in that moment that she wasn't really mad at him. His shoulders relaxed with that knowledge, and he huffed a small sigh of relief. As she stood there more confidently now, and demanded to know what he was doing there, Eliphas could not help but smirk.

"I told you I was thinking of coming here," he reminded the girl, mischief glowering in his gaze, "And yes, actually, I do... Where there's weeds there's privacy, wouldn't you agree?"

Snippy tone or not, he was glad that she had decided to come. He gestured with his head to a passage between two greenhouses, and then turned to head that way himself. "Coming?" he inquired, feeling rather confident that she'd rather explore with him than alone. Personally, he found that adventures were always much more fun with company. Plus it helped to have something of a safety net, should anything happen to one of them.

Though really, what could possibly be in a regular old greenhouse?

@Elizabeth Lovett

Elizabeth could hear the nervousness in the boy's voice, and he seemed to immediately withdraw from her tone. His apology was genuine, and she folded her arms while simultaneously letting the glower on her face fade to a more slightly annoyed expression. Of course he hadn't meant to startle her, he had been staring at the ground when they nearly collided.

She saw the mischief creep into his eyes, lighting him up as he reminded her that he had in fact told her he would be here. More embarrassment crept into her and she let out a little huff. Well, that was true, now that she thought of it. He had quite clearly stated it was next on his list of places to explore. She just hadn't known he meant today. The smirk on his face was a bit too teasing, and she refused at that moment to admit her mistake aloud.

The comment about privacy finally broke down the last of her grumpy demeanor, and she couldn't help but smile. "I suppose you're right about that. No one is going to be able to find us in this mess." She indicated around them, hearing the distant sound of the students finally leaving the greenhouse classroom. Now they wouldn't have to be nearly as quiet.

She watched Eliphas start heading in the direction of the building she had noticed earlier, with the huge plant growing out of the ceiling. "Of course I'm coming." She hurried after him, excited at the thought of exploring together. "Do you think any of these plants are dangerous? I heard the fifth years get to handle some pretty aggressive flora."

They seemed to intuitively head towards the greenhouse with the huge plant inside. She tilted her head, looking around curiously at the flourishing life within. "I don't recognize many of these plants. My dad mostly grew things that helped with healing." She reached out her hand, running her fingers along some of the vines of the main plant spiraling to the roof. "Do you know much about magical plants?"

She was studying the thicker vines of the plant, they were dark in color, a brownish-green. They almost seemed to pulse, as if they had a heartbeat. She wanted to memorize every detail so that she could relay the information to her father. If Eli didn't know what it was, her father certainly would.

Eliphas was used to the more natural, permaculture style of landscaping found within the greater grounds of Hogwarts, away from the courtyards and the manicured paths. His Grandmother had never really even referred to them as weeds, stating that they were still valuable for insects and bees and it was only we humans who had any real issue with them. Her garden had been vibrant, it flourished with life though he'd never really bothered to learn all that much about what she grew.

As they made their way toward the other greenhouses, his view of the countryside became all the more obscured and thus so too did he lose sight of the so-called weeds. "Maybe we could find some seeding dandelions later, since magic exists do you think you really can make a wish on them?" A silly thought, no doubt, one he quickly dropped.

Finally they came to a halt at the front of one of the greenhouses. The one with a mighty thick vine which had taken over most of the rooftop.

"Dangerous? Knowing Hogwarts, probably..." That thought hadn't really come to his mind yet, but now that she had said it aloud he couldn't help but frown. Eliphas currently knew exactly zero spells with any degree of competency. Though he had brought his wand with him, it was more or less useless. Had it been fellow students they were worried about he could have waved it around and pretended like he knew what he was doing, enough to scare them off, but plants? Plants weren't sentient... Right?

"I don't really know much about anything plant wise," he admitted, with a frown, "I mean, I want to. I just, well... You've seen how classes have been so far! Rules, rules, rules... Do you know much already?" She had mentioned her father growing healing plants, and he wondered if there was any of that around here. Healing herbs could be very useful!

"Do we, uh... Do we dare enter?" Elizabeth had forced the more rational side of his brain to the forefront, and now he was worried about what they might find inside...

@Elizabeth Lovett

The healer's daughter took his thought into consideration. Had they really let this specific plant bloom free? A plant in its wild state could either do much better or much worse than one being heavily tended to. Truthfully, it would depend on the type of plant being dealt with. For observation purposes, it might be interesting, but for the sake of harvesting from a healthier plant, it would be somewhat genius. As unmanaged and unruly as the whole place looked, perhaps this was the key to success?

"It's true," She began, remembering her parent's garden back home with a small twinge of yearning, "In their natural state they may be more useful than if they were trimmed or plucked." She leaned into the doorway slightly, looking around the corners at the vines that were climbing up the walls. "My father never keeps our garden this tidy. Just pulls up the weeds that aren't useful." She scanned the ground and then seemed to come to a sound conclusion, "Hardly any weeds in here at all. Outside there are a few," She nodded her head towards the nettles he had been trying to avoid, "But look at the dirt in here? It looks freshly turned and disturbed. Someone is weeding it."

She couldn't help but wonder who would be doing such work. And for what purpose? Did they hold classes out here later in the year perhaps? If that were the case then it must be the Herbology professor coming out here and caring for the wild flora.

Lizzy could hear the anxiety raise in her new friend's voice when he began to contemplate whether these plants could do them harm. "Don't worry Eli, surely you can outrun a plant can't you?" Her tone was teasing, but not cruel.

When he admitted his lack of knowledge on the subject, she instantly smiled. Oh yes, Elizabeth adored a chance to "teach". She couldn't help but agree about the classes statement, however. How long would they spend learning how dangerous what they were learning could potentially be, before she actually learned a single scrap of magic? She had expected to be at least on the road to learning some spells by now, but then again, didn't most classes start this way? Even in her old school, every class had to begin with rules and explanations. It just usually didn't take this long. "I think I'll be graduated by the time I wave my wand for the first time." She was highly exaggerative and gave her statement some extra weight with a heavy sigh. "And I know plenty about healing herbs, I could even show you some stuff in our classroom that is useful. All of this though, I have no clue." She motioned around them.

"Of course we enter!" She met his question with a tone of exasperation. "We didn't come all this way to stand in the doorway." She stepped over the threshold and onto the plant. Its roots were above ground and covered every inch of the flooring. She stepped carefully, maneuvering towards the base. It was still pulsing like a heartbeat, a steady rhythm that she could have swore began to quicken.

Some of the roots were covered in spikes, and she reasoned that was an adaption to protect it's exposed roots from any animal who might want to munch on it. "Be careful not to fall." She warned the boy behind her. If he tripped on a root and landed on a spike that would be- quite terrible.

She reached the base and stopped, running her fingers along it and looking up towards the top. She blinked several times, seemingly in confusion. "Eli-" She took a step back, her expression becoming more concerned. "Do those look like- teeth- to you?" She gestured towards an opening near the top of the plant, where razor sharp spikes stuck out of the hole. It certainly dig look like teeth in a mouth...

Eliphas quickly decided that the idea of a wildflower garden, one which was permitted to grow rather freely with only the more oppressive plants being uprooted, sounded as though it would be rather cool to behold. Overgrown, like some secret garden. Glancing around them both, at the greenhouse they'd finally reached, he realized that was more or less where they were now. The plant inside was definitely overgrown, in his uninformed eyes! Cool... Yeah, it was cool, wasn't it?

Though he had always kept his distance from the pricklier ones. He knew nettles had their uses, but that did not mean he wanted to deal with the painful rash they would bring! No siree.

As she pressed on ahead of him and peeked into the greenhouse, he hung back apprehensively. With the doorway ever so slightly opened he stepped up onto his tiptoes to try and look past her, especially when she made the revelation that the soil inside had been recently turned and tended to. Then this wasn't all for nothing, they hadn't simply let it become overgrown without cause!

When she teased him for being cautious, he pulled a face. "Okay, okay, of course I can outrun
a plant.. Good point.." He stepped closer to her then, perhaps proving that he wasn't too much of a coward, and leaned his hands against the glass to get a better look at the interior. It was quick to fog up though with his breath, so he let out a small sigh. It didn't last long though, quickly overtaken by a chuckle.

"Right? I thought we'd have learned something useful by now!" Though he supposed that having a bunch of eleven year olds running around with magic, before they really understood the responsibility they had to one another's safety, was just asking for trouble. Didn't stop it from being frustrating though.

"I'd like that," he said, with an eager nod of his head, as she offered to teach him more about healing herbs. Not yet though, of course, right now they had bigger fish to fry. Much, much bigger fish from the looks of the roots. His companion was much more eager than he to cross the threshold, and soon enough she was inside the greenhouse proper. Not wanting to be left behind, Eliphas was quick to follow after her.

The interior felt... strange. He could not help but feel completely unnerved while inside the greenhouse. The hairs on the back of his neck were firmly stood to attention, and a queasy feeling entered his gut. He felt certain that they were not alone, that something was watching them... Sizing them up.

"Elizabeth," he began, as the girl stepped forward and inspected the heart of the plant. Whatever he was about to say was halted by her own concerned words... Teeth? He peered past her, looking on in horror as she gestured toward the opening. He gulped, and took one step back toward the door. "Uh, Elizabeth... Call me crazy, but I think that plant is alive... Like... I think it knows we're here..."

Eliphas had never been one to distrust his gut. It was like an extra sense that warned him when things weren't as they seemed and by gosh was this room screaming of 'not like it seemed'!

Even as he said this, even as he took a step back, he saw from the corner of his eye how the plants tendrils had begun to slowly, methodically, snake their way toward the pair of them. It was a sneaky move, he decided then and there, hoping that they wouldn't be paying enough attention to notice as it neared them.

But Eliphas noticed. And he wanted out!

@Elizabeth Lovett

The children had not realized just what they had walked into. Perhaps they would have seen the sign near the door which read "Absolutely No Admittance Without A Staff Member" had the plant not grown to cover it with one of its smaller tendrils. They simply had no clue that they had just walked into the lair of a monster.

Lizzy fell back a step, hearing the change in her companion's voice. So he saw it too. The teeth were dark in color, and as she watched the mouth slowly- ever so slowly- closed. She took another step back and stumbled, realizing the root beneath her foot had moved. She fell back into Eli, nearly throwing them both off-balance, "Sorry!"

The young girl got her footing back and nodded, "I think you're right." She could see it now as she looked around them, the roots were shifting ever so slowly. She realized then, these were not roots at all. No- they were tentacles. Vines. Arms of the monster. And the pulsing? Well it had been a heartbeat. Suddenly she felt very much like a fly caught in a web, and she tried to stay calm. "Okay so, just no sudden movements." She tried to sound confident as they both backed towards the exit. "Just nice and slow, and once we're out, we run."

Suddenly the outrunning a plant comment seemed a bit- ironic. The giant creature opened its mouth again, and she swore she saw drool dripping from its fangs. The look of the teeth definitely affirmed in her mind that this thing was most likely thinking about eating them.

She felt her foot hit the ledge of the doorway and she stepped back onto the grass. The plant suddenly tensed, going utterly still as if it could sense that they were near the exit. For a few moments, there was utter silence between the children and the monster. Then, as suddenly as it had gone still, two of the plant's tendrils exploded into movement, barreling towards them.

Lizzy shrieked and seized Eli's hand as she spun on her heel and ran to the right of the building. She dragged the smaller boy after her, "Run- run- run- run-," Every step she took she was repeating that word as if she was commanding both their feet to do just that.

Behind them a glass panel exploded into thousands of pieces, a vine bursting forth and reaching desperately for them. That was sure to draw attention. She felt shards of glass rain on their backs, but she did not slow down or look over her shoulder. And she did not loosen her grip on her new friend's wrist.

She had a horrible thought, did this thing have feet? It seemed silly but then again, it had a mouth! Who was to say it wouldn't stand up and start running after them? That image might have been funny to her had she not been so focused on not getting eaten by the thing.

Who even looked for keep out signs when they were exploring? Certainly not Eliphas! He had been much too preoccupied with the excitement of it all, and the plant which wormed its way up and around the frame to care.

Now, though, with the damned thing trying to corner them, he wondered if caution might not have been the more prudent approach...

Elizabeth stumbled backwards into him, throwing him from his thoughts and bringing him right back to the present moment. Their situation was becoming increasingly more dire, so much so that when the Hufflepuff suggested they back away slowly he didn't even try to argue with her. Nope, he remained silent and inched back step by step. His gaze scanned left and right, though his head never really moved for fear of being spotted. Those tendrils were drawing in closer.

Eliphas' heartbeat thump-thumped noisily within his ears, so much so that it almost drowned out everything else in the room. The footfalls, her voice, everything sounded hazy and out of reach. All he could think about was that drooling mouth of razor sharp teeth, and the spiny tendrils which reached toward them.

He did, however, notice when the girl stopped. He too came to a halt, and heard nothing besides his heartbeat for a few seconds. Even the plant seemed to still, and a showdown seemed to commence between them. But who would be the first to pull the trigger?

Two leaping vines shot out toward them, giving him his answer. A shriek accompanied the grabbing of his wrist, and before anything even needed to be said he was running out of the greenhouse alongside Elizabeth as fast as his feet would take him. He didn't stop, he didn't look back, he didn't even try to pull his hand free. No, he booked it - only caring to make sure that Elizabeth was safe too.

At their back came the smashing of glass, and shrapnel flew out toward them. He felt some of the sharp glass slide against his right arm, but paid it no mind. It wouldn't rightly matter if the plant ate them, now, would it?

Thankfully they seemed to have outrun the tendrils themselves, or something kept them contained within the confines of the greenhouse, for soon they were far away from the greenhouse in question, weaving their way between the others in a hopeless search for the exit. Were they even going the right way? Everything looked the same at this point, and he could only hope that they hadn't somehow doubled back on themselves.

He'd hate for them to run back into the belly of the beast!

@Elizabeth Lovett

The children ran through row of buildings, not slowing even when they made it past them. In Elizabeth's head, the thing was still right on their tail. She could still hear the explosive sound of glass shattering. They ran hard, only slowing when the buildings were a good distance behind them. She turned, half expecting the monster to be looming.

There was nothing. The buildings seemed as serene and peaceful as ever, as if nothing had just tried to kill them. Her heart was thundering, and as she realized they were safe her fear was replaced with a new emotion. Anger.

"Who the- WHO keeps something like THAT!? Don't they know there are kids running around!" She gripped her hair with both hands, looking around to see that they had made it out near the lake, not far from where their Care of Magical Creatures class was held. "We could have died!"

Lizzy spun towards Eli, suddenly worried that he could have been hurt. "Are you alright?" She looked him over and noticed that the glass explosion had sliced his right arm. The sight of blood triggered some "healer's daughter instinct" and she immediately took off her cloak. "We should wrap that. Does it hurt?" She used the bulky material to wrap around the cut, not wanting to rip the fabric for a smaller piece. These cloaks after all were expensive!

"Well, I suppose this gives a good reason for your first lesson in healing herbs, huh?" She tried to make light of the situation, although her entire body was still filled to the brim with anxiety and adrenaline. She seemed to accept what had happened remarkably fast after her initial outburst. "There will probably be something useful growing near the lake, are you okay to walk? Not too light-headed are you?"

Somewhere she felt guilty. After all, she had been the one to push him into going into that greenhouse in the first place. However, she simply couldn't dwell on that sort of thing. They were both alive, and a cut wasn't going to be the end of the world.