Opposites, Attack!
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| xxx | Lottie wasn't quite sure what to make of Herboloy. On one hand, she understood it well enough. She used to help maintain the garden back home when the weather was nice and she had nothing better to do. On the other, she hated a mess. And Herbology was quite a mess. Her first days had been a mess of soil, screams, and a quite large collection of marks and bruises dotting her skin. It had mostly been her own fault, her carelessness, she supposed, but it was almost harder than potions. At least the potion ingredients didn't have minds of their own. In the greenhouse, anything was possible. Roots could scream, vines could kill, and geraniums could bite. That last bit had only become clear to Lottie on a fateful day in October, when the professor had assigned a particularly frightful task to both the third and second year students. They would raise the flowers to maturity, and then harvest its fangs. Easy enough, it seemed, except that when the fangs matured, they became dangerous little beasts. And the kicker was that each third year student was expected to pair up with a second year. A sort of mentor, mentee type of project. How honorable. Lottie imagined it couldn't be so horrible. Perhaps she'd get lucky and get paired with a little prodigy, some reformed bumkin with calloused hands and an affinity for nature. In a perfect world, perhaps that would be true. But Hogwarts had a way of sending Lottie for a loop. How she loved and hated it. | xxx |
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Opposites, Attack! |  |
| ✦"You better start walking. Love takes miles."✦ STA 8 │ EVA 8 │ STR 6 │ WIS 6 │ ARC 6 │ ACC 7 |
Opposites, Attack!
mentioning: @Charlotte Winfield | date: 14-10-2025 | fit: x | notes: i swear i don't usually take this long on replies sorry
Avis really didn't mind the average Tuesday. It wasn't part of the weekend necessarily but it wasn't a Monday either so it had it perks. But ever since September had rolled around and school went back in session, the Ravenclaw had grown a particular hatred for Tuesdays.
At least, this is what was going through her head that afternoon as she headed across the grounds to Greenhouse 3. Most of the second years had been ecstatic when the professor had told the class that they'd get to enter the third years hallowed grounds a year early. They were to do some sort of mentor project with the older kids. There'd been actual cheering. Avis scowled. She would make no such noise for Herbology, of all godforsaken things.
She hated plants, magical ones especially and had almost failed the subject last year if not for an assigned tutor every Saturday, whom she had also hated. The girl sighed heavily, pushing open the double doors and locating the worktable she'd been assigned. Avis narrowed her eyes warily at the bouncing bulbs to her left as she trekked miserably across the floor. Never again.
When she reached the table, she discovered that she'd been beaten by her partner, whom she offered a glum smiling while sliding onto the bench. Gardening tools were laid out in a neat row in front of them. Giving the tools a dubious look, Avis turned her attention to the third year.
"Are you Charlotte?" she asked, realizing the girl looked vaguely familiar. Quidditch, perhaps? "I'm Avis." The Ravenclaw glanced back at the tools. There didn't seem to be any weapons for protection...or perhaps a shield. "What are we supposed to be planting again?" she asked picking up a trowel and studying it for a moment.
sta 8 | eva 8 | str 3 | wis 7 | arc 6 | acc 10
inpc: bastien archambeau
Opposites, Attack!
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| xxx | Lottie had been staring intently at the baby plant on the table before her when her partner finally arrived. She hadn't been late, though Lottie was feeling bitter enough to side-eye her warily. Once she had settled in, Lottie already began pulling on her greenhouse gloves. "Lottie, yes," she replied, narrowing her eyes slightly and arching a brow, "I already know who you are. You're on the quidditch team, yes? I see you nearly every day at practice." Lottie was normally a pit more patient with pleasantries, but she was already crabby about the project, so her tone had a rougher edge than she intended. She knew in the back of her mind that she would need to soften up for the sake of making it through this project in one piece, but her stubbornness was a frustrating thorn in her side. "We're raising fanged geraniums," Lottie said with a bit more evenness, "The professor went over this yesterday. They're nearly at their teething stage. That's when they're the worst." Straightening out, Lottie pulled forward the large pot in front of them. A few blue-red leaves stuck out from a small plant. The beginning of small white fangs were already forming around the mouth-like flower, snapping the air experimentally. Lottie grimaced. "We're meant to fertilize and care for them until their fangs are mature enough to harvest. Make sense?" | xxx |
| ✒ ──────────────────────────── •
Opposites, Attack! | |
| ✦"You better start walking. Love takes miles."✦ STA 8 │ EVA 8 │ STR 6 │ WIS 6 │ ARC 6 │ ACC 7 |
Opposites, Attack!
mentioning: @Charlotte Winfield | date: 14-10-2025 | fit: x
As her partner spoke, Avis was immediately hit with a brick wall of ice-cold tone, backed up by an admittedly impressive raised brow. The Ravenclaw felt her own dark eyebrow twitch in a subconscious attempt to copy Lottie's expression before narrowing her eyes saltily at the other girl. What had warranted the attitude was a mystery, but something inside Avis had her itching for some sort of confrontation. Perhaps it was simply being in an Herbology greenhouse.
"Ohh, right," Avis said with a sniff. "You play for Slytherin." The emphasis on the House was not to be missed. She'd never really liked the Slytherin Quidditch team. They had a history of being... overly ambitious, one might say, something the girl herself had witnessed first-hand. The Ravenclaw watched her new acquaintance with wary eyes as she answered Avis' question.
Fanged geraniums. Sounds brilliant.
"Yeah, yeah," Avis said, waving her hand in dismissal. "I remember now." She didn't remember. She had probably slept through that part of the lecture. But she wasn't going to admit that obviously, even if it inevitably was going to be obvious that she had quite the opposite of a green thumb
The Ravenclaw stared dubiously at the plants from Hell as Lottie pulled the pot closer, grimacing alongside her partner at the stubs of shiny white teeth that were beginning to grow in. "Why in Merlin's name do plants have barkin' teeth?" the girl muttered, balling her fingers into fists at the thought of losing one to a geranium.
"Aye, the instructions are easy enough. But I call fertilizing. You can harvest the beastie's fangs..." Avis sighed, trailing off as the flower closest to her tried to snap at a tiny piece of dust floating past. This should be fun.
sta 8 | eva 8 | str 3 | wis 7 | arc 6 | acc 10
inpc: bastien archambeau
Opposites, Attack!
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| xxx | Lottie narrowed her eyes at the snide tone, beginning to gnaw at her bottom lip. It was a tick she had picked up a million years ago. She bit her lip when she was angry, when she was sad, when she was focused too hard on something. It wasn't exactly a tell for anything, as she always did it. She had to consciously retract her teeth and let her lip fall loosely back in place. "Yes, I do in fact play for Slytherin. Could you not tell by the robes?" She motioned down to her green and black ensemble pointedly before turning back to the plant. Despite her hands being covered by dragon-hide gloves and body still being a sizeable distance away from the blasted creature, Lottie still couldn't help but feel particularly vulnerable in front of the creature. The plant's fangs were still relatively harmless, but very soon they would be sharp as blades and itching for a bite. "Right, well, put your gloves on then." Trying her best to hide her annoyance at the girl's unfair division of responsibilities, Lottie carefully slid the pot nearer to Avis. "If you're going to pick the easy job, at least do it well." The little bugger snapped at the air, its stubby teeth making little clicking sounds. If she could look past its inevitable future, Lottie could almost see it being a bit cute. "Watch your fingers." | xxx |
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Opposites, Attack! | |
| ✦"You better start walking. Love takes miles."✦ STA 8 │ EVA 8 │ STR 6 │ WIS 6 │ ARC 6 │ ACC 7 |
Opposites, Attack!
mentioning: @Charlotte Winfield | date: 14-10-2025 | fit: x
Avis pursed her lips at the girl's clever response. She turned her head to the side with an exasperated expression, her eyes narrowing in annoyance. "No, I just assumed green was your favourite color or something," she mumbled sarcastically in response.
Moments later after watching the plants snap a bit too aggressively at something in the air, Lottie's suggestion of gloves seemed highly logical and despite Avis' pride causing a spark of annoyance at following the girl's instructions, she obeyed and slipped the gloves on, stretching her fingers experimentally in the thick leather-ish hide.
She rolled her eyes at the Slytherin's snarky comment. Of course she was going to do it well. It was the easy bit after all, as the girl had already stated. Merlin, this project was just going from bad to worse. Avis sighed, tugging the pot over a bit closer and lugging a bag of fertilizer onto the work table. Prying it open, she picked up an available trowel and wrinkled her nose at the warm, mushy material within. A waft of foul-smelling steam rose from the bag and Avis choked down a gag.
"Eugh, what is this?? Dragon dung??" she gasped, attempting to hold her breath and she lowered the trowel into the hot mess and scooped up a fair bit. Carelessly leaving a trail of it across the table, she shook it around the base of the flower, careful to avoid the tiny snapping jaws the geranium as she went.
Just as Avis went to dump the last bit of it into the pot, one of the heads came out of nowhere and knocked the trowel from her grasp, launching it into Lottie's lap and spreading manure every which way. The Ravenclaw let out a surprised yelp, shooting an eye at the professor for a moment before standing up.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly, picking up the bag and scraping some of the mess back into it. She gave Lottie a wan smile. "Lucky you. I heard the smell of fertilizer is all the rage as a perfume these days," she joked weakly. Humor was possibly not the best option at the moment but it was all Avis' brain would revert to at the embarrassment of coating her partner in dragon shite.
sta 8 | eva 8 | str 3 | wis 7 | arc 6 | acc 10
inpc: bastien archambeau
Opposites, Attack!
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| xxx | Lottie fought the urge to roll her eyes as she waited for Avis to complete her job, though a part of her was thanking her lucky stars that she hadn't been stuck with the fertilizer job. The smell, even from further down the table, was so pungent she had to turn her face away. She scrunched her nose, praying that Avis had paid at least some attention to the fertilizing section. It all seemed to be going moderately well on the other girl's end, well enough that Lottie risked a slow glance over. That was when disaster struck. In the speed of a blink, the flower attacked. One moment, the trowel was in Avis's hands. The next, it was settled on Lottie's lap, and the manure was everywhere. Particularly, it was on Lottie, which was a one-hundred percent no-no. She fought off a gag, the scent filling her nose and seeping into her robes. At Avis's weak jest, Lottie narrowed her eyes in fury. She struggled to verbalize the string of sharp scoldings running through her head, but in the end she settled for a charged scoff. "You- how did-" It was then that Lottie realized that the eyes of many other students were trained onto the pair, wary and somewhat amused. A brilliant flush crept onto her cheeks, and all the fight left Lottie as embarrassment took over. Finally, she gained just enough sense to mutter out, "Clean. We need to clean this." | xxx |
| ✒ ──────────────────────────── •
Opposites, Attack! | |
| ✦"You better start walking. Love takes miles."✦ STA 8 │ EVA 8 │ STR 6 │ WIS 6 │ ARC 6 │ ACC 7 |
Opposites, Attack!
mentioning: @Charlotte Winfield | date: 14-10-2025 | fit: x
Okay so maybe Avis' weak attempt at a joke had failed miserably, judging by Lottie's venomous expression. Her sheepish smile faltered at the girl's disgusted scoff, but the sputtering was rather funny admittedly. The Ravenclaw was about to mention something about it when her Slytherin counterpart suddenly flushed a brilliant red, glancing about the room at the prying eyes casting glances in their direction.
Still on her feet, Avis impulsively made the decision to defend her manure-covered partner. Her unashamed, extroverted brain had always held some sort of sympathy for those who had a sense of social propriety and she didn't like to see people embarrassed especially for something that had been her fault.
"Didn't realize dragon shite was all that interesting," she proclaimed loudly, shooting a few glances at her nosy peers. Most of the eyes averted and Avis turned her attention to Lottie who was muttering angrily. "Clean. We need to clean this," she was saying and the younger girl sighed, nodding in reluctant agreement.
"Right, right. Here," she replied, tugging her wand out of her waistband. Holding it up, Avis traced an 'S' through the air over the piles of spilled manure on the table and in Lottie's lap. "Scourgify," she muttered and the mess disappeared in a cloud of magical frothy bubbles. The last one floated up and popped in front of Avis' nose with a soft 'plop' and the girl studied the newly cleaned surface carefully. With a satisfied huff, she sat back down, tucking her wand back into her skirt.
Straightening her crooked tie, she glanced sideways at the Slytherin and cleared her throat. "Sorry about that. Probably was a bit too careless there... I suppose," she said quietly, busying her hands with the trowel as she patted the fertilizer down. The girl stuck her tongue out rudely as the plant attempted another snap at her hand. "Stupid beastie," she muttered with a scowl.
sta 8 | eva 8 | str 3 | wis 7 | arc 6 | acc 10
inpc: bastien archambeau
Opposites, Attack!
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| xxx | Lottie subtly attempted to scrub the heat from her cheeks, to no avail. She was attempting to remember the cleaning charm, but to no avail. Why was her head so cloudy when she most needed it to be clear? Embarrassment was not an ideal emotion, although she seemed prone to it these days. Oddly enough, though, it seemed that Avis's damage control was actually working... quite well. Belated, of course, but effective. The attention in the room was slowly dragged away from Lottie, until Avis was the only one looking at her. Scourgify. Merlin, how could she forget? Relief flooded through her as the uncomfortable feel of being covered in manure was quickly scrubbed away, until all that was left was the faint stench of excrement. It was still oodles better than her previous situation, so Lottie allowed her muscles to slowly relax and the flush to drain from her cheeks. With a sigh, she quietly mumbled a quick thank you. At Avis's apology, Lottie was at once met with two options: allow her anger to fester and grow until it ate her alive, or forgive. Lottie was stubborn when she wanted to be, but she wasn't a fool. And, admittedly, she no longer really found it in her to be upset. The apology had seemed genuine enough. "It's... alright," Lottie sighed, trying her best to push past her qualms and see the situation from a different perspective. "Simple mistake. I perhaps could have been a bit more willing to assist." Brushing her hands over her skirt, Lottie finally felt the last of her frustration bleed out. "I suppose I should apologize as well. Seems we got off on the wrong foot." | xxx |
| ✒ ──────────────────────────── •
Opposites, Attack! | |
| ✦"You better start walking. Love takes miles."✦ STA 8 │ EVA 8 │ STR 6 │ WIS 6 │ ARC 6 │ ACC 7 |
Opposites, Attack!
mentioning: @Charlotte Winfield | date: 14-10-2025 | fit: x
Avis watched the decision of response form on Lottie's face after the Ravenclaw's mumbled but genuine apology. She let out an involuntary breath of relief when the girl replied positively. Something deep down had turned into budding respect for the Slytherin, despite rocky beginnings and Avis couldn't help but offer her a sheepish smile. A person that could take it and dish it out was always someone to keep around.
"No, I suppose I was the one that chose the 'easy' job, didn't I?" the girl admitted with a grimace. Perhaps fertilizing would also go on the list of things she couldn't do in this godforsaken class. "Paid for that decision, huh," she added, mostly to herself.
At Lottie's admittance that they'd hit it off badly, Avis nodded and stuck out a shite-covered glove to shake, before hurriedly tugging it off and holding out a much cleaner hand. "Avis M. Greymond," she announced professionally as a re-introduction of sorts. "Second year. Ravenclaw. Irish. Favorite color is midnight blue... I think. Got a cat named Quigley."
It might've been overkill but they might as well get to know each other if they were going to be slaving away at a killer plant once a week together. And she supposed it would be easier to get along if they knew a few things about each other as well. Avis grimaced, slightly regretting her full biography. This impulsive re-introduction was going to be terribly awkward if Lottie still hated her guts.
sta 8 | eva 8 | str 3 | wis 7 | arc 6 | acc 10
inpc: bastien archambeau