there's such a chill;; open.

Orlaith was quite gifted in Herbology. She worked very well in classes, did extra credit, she had even managed to score her own private corner of the greenhouses -- though the blonde wasn't sure if that last one was a special and unique feat limited only to her. Professor Naz did seem the type that was rather indiscriminate with her friendly treatment of the students. Nevertheless, the sixth year couldn't complain, she had somewhere where she could grow her own potions ingredients amongst other things. This was something more helpful to her studies than any book in the library, for she had lost count of the times she'd ordered a common potions ingredient via owl, only for the item to arrive damaged and unuseable. If only her father would send her common ingredients as well as hard to find ones. Especially since something rather bizarre was happening with Orlaith's current stock of moondew plants; they were not thriving as well as they should have been.

"What is going on!" the blonde exclaimed in exaspertion as she gently navigated around the roots of the moondew bush with a stick. They seemed to be lacking in colour and flowers, both of which they should have had by now. Sure, it was the coldest time of the year in Scotland and there wasn't a lot of sun, but the plant was native to Scotland, meaning it should have been coping much better with the climate than some of her other plants. It was baffling, maddening even. Was there some sort of magical pest affecting the plant? Or had other students been bother her plant when she wasn't around? The Slytherin wasn't sure, but she was definitely sure that she did not want to uproot the plant and start all over without investigating and understanding what had gone wrong. The roots seemed okay to her sixteen year old, rather inexperienced herbologist eyes. The young Dewar was very good at herbology, yes, but she was still only sixteen, mistakes happened. The problem was, she didn't know what the problem was.

Stepping back and sighing in annoyance, the young Slytherin tapped her bottom lip with her finger and considered the plant for a moment. She needed a textbook. The Slytherin turned towards her bookbag and produced a tome she'd brought from the library to assist with the issue; but then an unfamiliar noise reached her ears. "Somebody there?" she called out, looking around the greenhouse to see if she could spot movement inside or out. There was a long pause as the Slytherin waited to see if anyone would answer her before she brushed it off as nothing, probably one of the more sentient plants in the greenhouse knocking something over. Her eyes drifted back to her book and she looked for the chapter on moondew plants.

Somehow, Audrey had misplaced her favorite quill.  It was a thing so unlike her that she wondered if it had been stolen.  But.  That was a rather raucous conclusion to jump to, and she had no suspects in mind.  The least she could do was retrace her steps and look for it, before launching a full-scale investigation.  The last time she could remember using it was in Herbology earlier that day, just before lunch.  Dreading an evening of homework without it, she braved the frigid January afternoon and ventured across the grounds toward the greenhouses.

She was more upset than she ought to be.  She knew that.  It was just a quill, after all.  But it was her best quill.  It wrote with the most precise lines, glided effortlessly across the parchment.  Her Potions essay was due tomorrow, and she really would prefer not to have to write out the final draft with her second-best.  As snow crunched beneath her feet, Audrey hugged her arms around herself.  Her Impervius Charm was doing little to help her now.  Why did it always seem colder when it wasn't actively snowing?

Fortunately, it was only a short walk to the greenhouses.  Relieved to be out of the cold, Audrey let out an audible sigh.  She stomped her boots on the doormat to shake off the excess snow and unfurled the scarf from around her neck.  At this hour, Audrey had imagined she would be the only one there.  She was mostly right.  A voice spoke out from the opposite corner, and Audrey realized she wasn't alone.

"Yes," she called, a bit embarrassed.  Audrey peeked her head around a tall cluster of plants to see who had spoken.  "Sorry if I startled you."  She recognized her fellow sixth year, Orlaith Dewar.  They didn't know each other well enough to say they were friends, but she had respect for Orlaith.  Audrey offered her a small smile, noticing the plant and open book in front of her, before turning her attention back towards the communal workspace.  Perhaps it had fallen on the floor?  Audrey pulled the chair out where she had been sitting earlier that day, and searched the space beneath.    “I didn’t expect anyone else would be here,” she continued.  Her tone was apologetic.  She definitely felt like she was interrupting something.  “You haven’t spotted a quill, by chance?”
 
 

If only plants could talk. Part of the young Slytherin felt that perhaps this was just normal behaviour for her moondew plant in winter, but then another part of Orlaith felt that when she had grown a moondew plant around this time last year, it had looked just that little bit healthier. So preoccupied with her herbological conundrum was Orlaith, that when a response to her initial question came earlier, it was missed. It must have been the preoccupation, because when movement caught her eye it was because Audrey Lennox was now much closer to her than the other end of the greenhouse - and the Ravenclaw couldn't have got that close unless Orlaith was distracted.

"Oh!" the blonde gasped in surprise, placing a hand on her chest and lowering the stick as she realised Audrey was not a threat. "Um.. hello." the sixteen-year-old responded sheepishly. The slender Sltherin shook her hed as she rubbed her temple. "My fault, I was distracted." she explained, her eyes drifting back to the troublesome plant before returning to her year mate.

It seemed Orlaith and Audrey were on the same page, they had expected to be alone in the greenhouse that afternoon. However,with Professor Naz's overly friendly nature, Orlaith wasn't too surprised that she was the only student who felt able to just wander into the greenhouse as it suited them. Audrey's final queston to her made it clear to Orlaith that her Ravenclaw peer wasn't here for a herbology related reason .

"A quill?" Orlaith repeated, noting that she hadn't actually looked for such an item at any point during her time in the greenhouse. "I don't think so. Sorry." the Slytherin said with an apologetic look, looking down at her textbook and then back at her plant. "Are you in a rush? To find the quill, I mean?" Orlaith asked, thinking that a second opinion could be very helpful in deciding if the blonde ought to just let the plant be or investigate further.