[herbology] an old man knows how a year it goes [all years]

"Oh, that's a good one, I didn't notice that," she said as she peered over at his neat (but not as neat as Marin's) handwriting and nodded. Maybe this assignment was going to be easier than she thought. Except she was already running out of ideas. She glanced at Andy. She couldn't remember if he was good at Herbology or not. It wasn't something she had noticed before.

Wini turned her head to look at where Marin was with Darcy, wondering what plants they had and saw her friend prodding at the dirt and roots so she glanced back at her plants, nudging one of the swaying vines over with her want (she wasn't going to let a plant boss her around) and poked at the roots a little to see if she could discern any differences there. Her gaze slid to Andy for a moment as the plant tried to wrap around her wand but she snatched it back before it could. "You really don't know? Didn't your parents help you with all of this?" she asked, more curious than judging. Wasn't he rich? Why was he even applying? She wasn't sure what it was like to have a lot of money, but she imagined his family could get him any opportunity he wanted with their connections. Or at least share some tips on how to put together a decent application. She exhaled a little and answered his questions anyway.

"Yeah, hobbies would be good," she said, agreeing more so that he didn't feel bad about his idea. "Think more why you want the apprenticeship, is there a story or a reason or something like that to show you as a person rather than just a name on a piece of paper. Like when I was doing my mediwitch apps, I talked about the first time my brother got hurt on our farm and I helped my mum bandage him up and why helping others is so important to me." Wini shifted in her seat, trying not to let her fear of the past-Andy influence her compulsion to her current-Andy. She wasn't sure she wanted to share all her secrets, but maybe that was enough to give him example. "Community service and that sort of thing might've been good, but maybe just focus on something you can add now to improve it," she told him as she scribbled down another difference. They had six so far.

With a nod she said, "Yep, exactly" and then smiled and laughed even as she tried not to, pressing her lips together as the plant stole his quill. "Does that count as a difference? Quill theft vs not?"

The Slytherin was pretty sure there was no good reason for Winifred to be helping him, and yet, here she was giving him advice. If she was in any house other than Hufflepuff, he might have wondered if she was tricking him or just pretending to be helpful. After all, he'd done absolutely nothing to earn her help, and he sure as heck didn't deserve it. Andronicus had been a nightmare to Winifred, the Head Boy, and some of their other year mates in their first few years. And he had barely begun to scratch the surface in making amends.

"You don't know? Didn't your parents help you with all of this?" She had asked, and Andronicus bit down on his lip before answering. "No, not for this…" he said sheepishly. "I'm doing this without their blessing." Andronicus had been set up for life by his family. They had all the right connections, enough sickles to do just about anything, and a booming business primed and ready for the First-Born-Son to inherit, but Andy didn't want any of it. Sometimes it made him feel ungrateful, turning away from what his parents had offered him. He knew not everyone had the same opportunities he was afforded, but sometimes, he just wanted to make his own choices. Andy wanted to decide his future. And despite the luxuriously soft and healthy hair on top of his head, he had always known the Lovecraft beauty supplies apothecary wasn't going to be enough.

"They want me to take over the apothecaries one day, but… I don't want that. I want to work with brooms and enchanting, not potions." He sighed, nodding along as Winifred agreed with him about hobbies and community service. He hadn't thought to do it before, but now he wished he had. She told him about her mediwitch applications, and Andronicus offered her a small smile. He barely knew her, really, but Winifred seemed like the type who would be a good healer. She was helping him, and she had no reason to, and he suspected that was a good trait for a mediwitch to have. "You're going to be a healer?" He asked though it was apparent, he wanted to know more.

Winifred added another difference to the list, and Andronicus wondered if this was enough yet. The professor said he'd hold the more advanced students to a higher level, but Andy wasn't sure what that meant. After the plant stole his quill, Andy frowned, but Winifred's laughter changed his mood, and he smiled brightly before answering. "Yeah, I think it counts," the other plant seemed far less interesting in stealing their things, and Andy spoke again. "Also, this one is blooming, but the other one seems like it's already finished," Andy noted, pointing at the little flower spikes that were blossoming on the Kenya Hyacinth and then nodding toward the page.

"Could you write that one? As I'm without a quill now," he chuckled again and closed up his Herbology book. He packed up his bag as the Professor declared the lesson over and stood up from his stool. "What is your next lesson? Could I ask you some more questions about the applications on the way?"

/out

I'm doing this without their blessing. "Oh," was all Wini could say in the moment, her mind already whirring with follow up questions. Did they not approve? Had he told them and they said no but he was doing it anyway? Wasn't he scared to disappoint them or something? But she didn't know him like that and it made her a little quieter than normal. But then, he started volunteering information on his own and Wini realized after a few moments that she was staring at him wide-eyed. Being best friends with Marin and Lip had not prepared her for a boy sharing more details about himself without consistent prodding and light interrogation.

She smiled at him just because it felt so.. weird. But weird in a good way.

Then she replayed his words in her head and nodded. "Well," she said, "It's good that you know that. I mean, a lot of people don't know what they want, right?" she said with a shrug. Well, she knew for the most part and Lip seemed sure he wanted to go into the Ministry but her other friends like Belinda and Apurva still had no clue. They both had lots of options they might want to do, but they were still having problems deciding at 17 what to do for the rest of their lives. Wini was glad that at least for now, she was kind of sure what she wanted to do. She nodded at his question, returning his smile. "Trying to be. I mean, I want to. I've applied and asked for all the recommendation letters. I even shadowed this really nice healer this past summer at St. Mungo's and it's a little different than what I'd be doing as a mediwitch but it was so cool to see behind the scenes and what it was actually like and I still owl her and she doesn't mind all the questions I have," she scrunched her nose and laughed at herself, remembering the last letter she had sent Montse which had another list of questions she had thought of this past week. She wondered if the healer regretted the offer of 'owl me anytime' yet.

Her smile widened as he agreed with her half-joke, but she shrugged and wrote it down anyway. It's not like she had anything else to add. Andy did surprise her by adding one more and she nodded, writing it onto their list in her bubbly handwriting. She was still analyzing the vine pattern and trying to discern if it was different (she wasn't making much progress due to the plant not cooperating and pulling out of her hands) when the professor called a close to the lesson. Wini glanced at the Slytherin and gave him a tentative smile. "Not too shabby," she said of their combined effort, still reeling from how weird it felt to be working well with Andronicus Lovecraft. She couldn't wait to tell Marin everything. She glanced his way as she packed up her bag, but Andy distracted her.

"Oh sure, you're headed to Potions too, right?" she asked as she slipped the strap of her bag over her shoulder and then pulled out her blonde waves so they didn't get caught under it. "So what other questions you got?"

/end

JR stared blankly at the substitute professor, blinking slowly, his brain whirring as he tried to sort out the 'hint' the old man was trying to provide him. "Oh right, of course," the Slytherin said confidently after a second, watching the professor move on to the next pairing before he turned to Tomie. "Have no clue what he meant. Is there a plant called moon... rain?" He flipped through his textbook more, scanning for moonrain(??).

No wonder he hated Herbology. He felt dumb as gobstones right now.

His brows flew up as Tomie mentioned moondew and he made a humming noise as he nodded. Yeah, that made more sense. JR wrote the two plant names on the parchment that was squarely between them and he eyed the Gryffindor. He saw that look in her eyes and he knew it mirrored his own. Grinning, he started examining the plants, eager to find the differences first and write them down, almost as if it were a competition between the two of them to see who could identify the most.

It was easy at first. Simple things like differences on the shapes of the leaves and the magical property Tomie had remembered (and he had pretended like he knew it), but then it seemed to slow. JR still scouring his book for information (it wasn't cheating really, it's not like the professor had said open book wasn't allowed), but the class seemed to go quicker than he expected. The professor called the class to a close and JR sat back, his brows hanging low as Tomie had clearly identified more differences than he had. "Let's go," he said with a pout. "Want to practice later?" he added in the next moment because he was confident that he could redeem himself on the pitch and he wasn't above bragging about it as they left the greenhouse behind.

/end