Closed Sprouting Friendship PV Constance Aphelion

Skipping her way outside of the walls of Hogwarts, Constance was in a very good mood. She had just finished some research on dark creatures, specifically vampires. Constance has always shown a particular interest in vampires, an interest in which she owes thanks to her uncle for cultivating. Constance is so obsessed with learning everything she can about vampires that her uncle would often joke that she would end up marrying one. Unfortunately, this joke did not sit well with her parents.

Making her way past the greenhouses, Constance's mind wandered back to her childhood in London. She would often spend her time as a little girl with her mother, and something she was passionate about were magical plants. Constance can't say she shares the same level of enthusiasm, but she engaged with her mother in gardening activities to make her happy.

Armed with a sentimental mood, Constance decides to make a pit stop at the greenhouses. Perhaps there will be something in there that reminds her of her mother. Constance had been feeling particularly homesick lately as her birthday is nearing, so maybe seeing a plant her mother and herself would take care of could possibly soothe the slight ache in her heart.

Quietly opening the doors into the greenhouses, Constance spots a Hufflepuff girl already inside. The girl in question was working out of a notebook, and she seemed to be observing the plants before her. Not expecting to find another student in the greenhouses at this hour, Constance remains in place as to not cause a disturbance. She could've left without a trace and continued on her way to her original destination, but Constance's interest was now piqued by the Hufflepuff girl. She seemed awfully enamoured by the plants, what was she writing down? Plants couldn't possibly be that interesting.

Putting a smile on her face, Constance kept her position by the greenhouse door and continued to observe the girl at work.

Tags: @Ember Candlelight WC: 325

Watching the Hufflepuff girl sketch, Constance is oddly entertained. She's never thought to spend her time drawing plants, but there seemed to be something oddly soothing about the activity. Perhaps she'd give it a try in her future downtime.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the bottle of ink spilled all over, making a mess of the table and the girl herself. Being too far away to actually take any action or prevent the ink from spilling, all Constance would do was mentally wince. The entire scence was quite awkward, and Constance couldn't help but feel bad for the flustered girl. But things only became more awkward when the ink ridden Hufflepuff girl looked up and noticed Constance timidly standing next to the greenhouse door.

"Ah- hello?" was all the girl was able to utter out. Constance finally came to her senses and walked towards the girl, pulling out a handkerchief from the pocket of her school robe. She quickly cleaned up the ink on the poor girl's forearm (well, as best as one handkerchief could clean up an ink spill) and then quickly moved to wiping up the remaining ink on the table. "You ought to be quite careful with the ink, it stains very easily."

After cleaning up the small mess, Constance puts the handkerchief down and gives the girl a small smile. "Sorry for stalking you like that, I didn't expect to see another student in the greenhouses. I'm Constance, by the way. Constance Aphelion." Her eyes then wander to the table, where Constance finds the notebook that the girl was working out of. Constance was about to chime in and ask about the notebook, but decided against it. Both girls were already quite put off by the mess of ink, and perhaps the contents of that notebook were private.

Taking her mind off the notebook, Constance looks up to make eye contact with the Hufflepuff girl and smiles. "I didn't catch your name." Setting her belongings down on a nearby stool, Constance decided that she could forfeit her previous plans to spend some time in the greenhouse. "And what brings you to the greenhouses outside of class?"

Ember: "Speech." | Constance: "Speech."

She stood up, watching as the ink was wiped off her arm (or most of it, anyway), and the table. Ember was amazed by the efficiency of the girl, who had cleaned up nearly all of the mess with a single handkerchief. She wanted to help, but wasn't sure how to considering she hadn't brought any cloth along with her. Bringing a hat would've been a good idea. Perhaps that bright pink one her mom had packed her would look better with some ink stains.

"You ought to be quite careful with the ink, it stains very easily."

Ember nodded, "Thank you. Yeah, I should." Her eyes flick to the handkerchief. "Your handkerchief is stained now- I can wash it for you? Or buy a new one?" her tone was apologetic, and she couldn't help but feel bad that now the cloth looked ruined. She wasn't sure if the stain would be permanent or not. Either way, Ember wanted to help somehow. It didn't feel right for her not to offer when the girl had so willingly assisted in cleaning up the accident.

"Sorry for stalking you like that, I didn't expect to see another student in the greenhouses. I'm Constance, by the way. Constance Aphelion." She noticed Constance glance at the notebook, and slid it closer to herself. Even if the Slytherin was nice and all, Ember still wasn't sure if she was ready to share it yet. "I didn't catch your name."

"That's alright, I'm glad that someone else is also drawn in by the greenhouses! And I can't stop others from coming here after all. In fact, it's nice to see others who also appreciate the greenery." her nervousness was wearing off, and she returned the smile. "Very nice to meet you Constance, I'm Ember. Erm, Candlelight." What an interesting last name, Aphelion. It sounded majestic, and vaguely reminded her of sycamore trees. But everything reminded her of trees.

"And what brings you to the greenhouses outside of class?"

Her reasoning could be summed up in one word. "Plants!" a pause as she took a deep breath. "They're so interesting, don't you think? So many kinds, with their own characteristics, and properties, and usages! Especially the magical ones. I've never seen magical ones before! They do such cool things- like scream, or bounce around, or-" she stopped to catch her breath, realizing that she needed to give Constance a chance to speak as well. It would not do to go on ranting about plants. "Do you like Herbology as well? What's your favorite plant? Do you like sycamore trees?"

@Constance Aphelion

Happy with the clean up, Constance refused the offer of a new handkerchief. She also refused to have the kind girl was it for her. It was a simple favor done by Constance, she didn't expect the Hufflepuff girl to do anything else. "It's fine, I can just get a new handkerchief for myself", she laughs. "It's just a little piece of cloth." Growing up in a wealthy family, perhaps Constance didn't truly realize the total value of money, but something as small as a handkerchief seemed insignificant enough for her to just easily replace.

The Hufflepuff girl introduced herself as Ember Candlelight, a name that Constance found quite interesting. The name sounded quite magical, but in a different manner than Constance's. Constance's parents always commented on how elegant sounding their daughter's name was, a name that was fitting for a wealthy city girl such as Constance. But Ember's name sounded different. Just from her name alone, Constance was already hypothesizing how different her family could be from Constance's. Different, but in a good way. Ember also spoke very highly of the greenhouses, a sentiment that was not generally shared among Constance's peers. At least not to that same level of passion. Constance found it quite endearing, Ember evidently has a love for herbology that Constance can admire.

Listening to Ember ramble on about why she was at the greenhouses at this hour, Constance was led to believe that maybe Ember's passion for gardening was much stronger than she originally believed. She spoke about plants with such fondness, perhaps she grew up taking care of plants? Even if listening to Ember talk so enthusiastically was a tad bit overwhelming, Constance still admired Ember's passion. Even if Constance didn't share the same passion for herbology, she knows that she has a passion of her own. If given the chance to talk about dark creatures, Constance was almost completely certain that she would go on the same frantic tangent that Ember was on currently.

Ember bombarded Constance with the questions of: "Do you like Herbology as well? What's your favorite plant? Do you like sycamore trees?" Looking up, Constance lets out a nervous laugh. Herbology is certainly not one of her favorite subject, but she didn't want to totally upset Ember. Constance's mother had been quite the fan of gardening, so naturally she made Constance help her back when she was a little girl. That's about as far as her gardening experience and knowledge goes, outside of what's been taught in their herbology class. The question about sycamore trees caught Constance off guard, it was such a specific question. Perhaps Ember has a special love of sycamore trees.

Turning to Ember, Constance answers her barrage of questions. "Herbology can be....interesting, but I can't say it's my favorite subject. Growing up in London, we don't really see much greenery outside of what my mother kept in our flat, so I can't say I have a favorite. And sycamore trees.....they're cool...I suppose?" Constance found Ember's excitement quite amusing, and she lets out a quiet giggle. "You seem to have quite the love for plants, do you have lots of experience with gardening?"