An Evening at the Greenhouse
It was right before dinner, but Kennedy was making her way to the greenhouses instead of the great hall. The herbology lesson earlier that day had included some information on pruning and Kennedy wanted to work on some of the plants to get practice. She was a natural at herbology, as Hufflepuffs commonly were. She loved getting her hands dirty and being connected with nature, especially after a long day being stuck up in the castle. As she made her way, she glanced up at the sky, admiring a snowy owl as it flew over head, probably on its way to deliver a letter. She hummed to herself too, the chorus of a popular wizard song her mother liked to listen to. She opened the door to the greenhouse, and her humming transitioned to quiet singingKennedy Cheek | April 24th, 2026 | Greenhouses | @Persephone Grimsbane | WC: 258
While she sang she gathered her things, and began pruning her plant. She lost herself in her work for a few moments, but was brough back to reality ask saw something move at the edge of her vision. Her singing stopped immediately and she looked over. There stood a girl that Kennedy recognized as a Gryffindor in her year. Had she been there the whole time? Was she there when I entered? Kennedy thought in horror. She cleared her throat,
Shining down on me
Clear day
How much better can it be
"Um-Hello. What are you working on?" Kennedy asked, doing a terrible job at making small talk as she attempted to make the girl forget she had been singing.
An Evening at the Greenhouse
Time had gotten away with her. Poppy hadn't intended to spend as long as she did in the greenhouse, planning to get several other things done before dinner, but there she was, among the dittany and completely lost in thought. Her mind had been on the farm a lot, lately. With the school year rounding on its final term, there was a lot about home that she'd missed.
Do you ever feel like a misfit?
✪ Everything inside you is dark and twisted ✪
The past Easter break hadn't provided any sort of reprieve. Her parents weren't able to pick her up at King's Cross, forcing her to remain at the castle. The letter had come only days before school gave out. Poppy might have been impressed that her parents managed to find a way to send an owl – and that they'd gotten it to the right place – had she not been so devastated by the news.
The last time she'd seen any of them was early January when they'd dropped her off and wished her a ...productive term. Had she known that Easter would be cancelled, Poppy might have begged to stay home from then.
It wasn't that she didn't like Hogwarts. On the contrary, it had exceeded every expectation. But the little girl missed her family and was concerned about the growing distance between them.
She absentmindedly watered the plants, paying hardly any attention as she moved from pot to pot on autopilot.
"Um-Hello. What are you working on?"
The words drew her hazy eyes from the plants. A moment later, her mind followed. Blue-green eyes settled on the girl across from her, a Hufflepuff she shared a few classes with. Had Kennedy been there long? She couldn't say. Truth be told, Poppy hadn't even seen the girl enter. Her cheeks grew warm at the realisation her classmate may have been trying to have a conversation with her and she'd inadvertently ignored her in return.
Poppy blinked, shaking her head a few times as if it might make her thoughts clearer. "I—I'm sorry. What was...could you repeat? I didn't...I'm afraid I missed your question."
The warmth spread further along her face before creeping down to her neck.
"S-Something about...did—did you want to harvest some of the dittany?" she ventured to guess. Clumsily, she reached for a pot as if she meant to offer it before thinking better of it. "They're not...um...ready yet—but...but I reckon they could be in another week...or two."
Encyclopaedia ✿ Metamorphmagus ✿ If the sun shines, that's reason enough.
An Evening at the Greenhouse
Kennedy Cheek | April 24th, 2026 | Greenhouses | @Persephone Grimsbane - color=#912121| WC: 251
When the girl asked her to repeat her question, Kennedy let out a sigh of relief. The Gryffindor had been too immersed into her work to pay attention to her singing. But Kennedy quickly clammed up again realizing that she had interrupted her from whatever the girl was doing, and conversation was now unavoidable.
"S-Something about...did—did you want to harvest some of the dittany?" The girl muttered, reaching for the pot, but then seeming to change her mind "They're not...um...ready yet—but...but I reckon they could be in another week...or two."
Kennedy nodded, what the Gryffindor said was true, the dittany was only just beginning to bloom. Spots of purple and pink were sprinkled in with the dark green of the leaves and stem. It was really important especially with the amount of werewolves at the school. In case of accidents it could cure werewolf bites, but sadly not lycanthropy.
"Uhm, do you like Herbology?" Kennedy tried to make small talk, afraid that if didn't answer the girl then it would be awkward. Instead she had only managed to dig herself into a deeper hole.
Of course she likes herbology, why else would she be in the green house?!
"I-I'm sorry that was stupid, you don't have to answer that."
Kennedy rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, wondering if she should just leave before she made things even more awkward. Things always seemed to go this way: Kennedy hated talking to people yet always placed herself into conversation.
An Evening at the Greenhouse
Poppy caught the relieved sigh, but having missed what she considered to be a large portion of conversation, it was impossible for her to determine what had provoked it. Was there something to be relieved about? Was her own relief on its way over a problem she didn't know she had? It seemed unlikely.
Do you ever feel like a misfit?
✪ Everything inside you is dark and twisted ✪
She knew she'd been completely engrossed in her own world when her company asked whether she liked herbology. The question was so far outside of left field that Poppy could only reason that it had followed on the back of a larger conversation that she simply hadn't heard.
Not wanting to appear even ruder than she surely already had, the Gryffindor hurried to provide an answer.
"I do!–Well." She supposed that wasn't truly the case. It was an easy mistake to run with, but it wouldn't have been Poppy's first rodeo at pretending to love something she knew very little about. The girl wasn't failing herbology by any means, but she didn't want to take the chance of Kennedy being a herbology buff and being unable to match either her knowledge or enthusiasm. That would bring on its own embarrassment.
The truth was far simpler.
"It's...it's alright. I don't mind it, b–but it's not my favourite or anything. I'm just here to...to tend to some ingredients I've been growing for potions class. I...well...it's not always possible, but...but I try to grow the things I'll need." Not all plants were available and not all were easy to grow, but the ones that were, Poppy tried to handle on her own. It saved her having to write home asking for more money or more ingredients, knowing full well the only response she would receive from her parents.
Silence.
Poppy shook her head a gently, both to reassure her company and to dislodge the creeping thoughts before they could take root. "I—It's not stupid at all. Most people down in the greenhouses at this time...I mean...they have to like herbology even a little. I'd be curious, too."
Maybe.
It felt like the thing to say, and the girl, fearing a sudden onset of awkward silence, was quick to offer it.
"Do you...I don't mean to assume," nevermind how trivial the assumption. "Do you like it?"
Encyclopaedia ✿ Metamorphmagus ✿ If the sun shines, that's reason enough.
An Evening at the Greenhouse
"I do!–Well. It's...it's alright. I don't mind it, b–but it's not my favourite or anything. I'm just here to...to tend to some ingredients I've been growing for potions class. I...well...it's not always possible, but...but I try to grow the things I'll need."Kennedy Cheek | April 24th, 2026 | Greenhouses | @Persephone Grimsbane | WC: 244
Kennedy nodded as the girl spoke, feeling a little relieved that the girl seemed to match her own unsteady awkwardness. The girl's reassuring words about Kennedy's question not being stupid settled her nerves, giving her a spurt of confidence to not completely check out of the conversation.
"Do you...I don't mean to assume, Do you like it?"
"Uhm, yeah, I mean not as much as I like magical creatures, but it's nice to uhm be able to get out and around. It makes me feel connected to everything around me." Then even quieter, "It makes me feel connected to my dad."
Kennedy smiled to herself looking back on fond memories of working in the flower bed behind her house with her father. It had an array of plants, mostly flower bushes, but also a few plants holding magical properties. She wondered how her father was doing now that she wasn’t there to help him with it. Did he miss his gardening partner?
The thought hit Kennedy so suddenly, she didn’t have time to stop it from coming out of her mouth.
“I guess when everything is ever changing, you could say herbology makes me feel rooted.”
She paused for a second, shaking her head and smiling at her own silly stupidity.
“That really was a terrible joke wasn’t it. I truly am sorry, I am helpless at small talk, in case you couldn’t tell.” But even as she said this, she was laughing, unable to find a different way to cut the awkward tension.