Flora and Fauna
Diving into the beauty that is nature.
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from the Harry Potter universe, that is, from J. K. Rowling. Only my character belongs to me and my brain.
"I'm so glad I can drop Astronomy this year, and History of Magic! Such a waste of my precious life time", I said, as I spooned down the last bit of my breakfast porridge.
The start of a new year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry was always an exciting day. The chattering in the great hall was unusually loud and filled with a tingle of anticipation by new and older students equally.
"It's unintelligible how a witch from an old family can hate history of magic; it's about us after all." Leta Lestrange clucked her tongue disparagingly at me and I had to grin.
"Not everyone gets their self-confidence from a pedigree", I mocked her while I opened my bag and lifted a small plant up and on the place where my bowl had vanished just moments before.
Sure", she snorted back, "and pot plants will get you a high class husband and a mansion on the countryside?"
I met her eyes and we both chortled in laughter.
Some students on the Ravenclaw table next to ours looked over and watched us oddly. I saw an older student point at me and then say something to a very small first year girl. As I grinned at her, she turned scarlet and dived under the table.
I felt the smile slide from my face and drop to the floor in a splash. Great, the new generation was already trained to see Leta and me as what we had to be: the arrogant pureblood princesses.
They thought we were pampered with riches and taught only people of highest blood status were worth living. True, in my childhood my parents told me there would be differences between wizards from families like ours and those from families with muggle backgrounds.
What they never seemed to think about was how we were educated that looks was all that mattered, had to wear corsets, only speak when spoken to, and sit quietly for a whole day until we received some attention from our parents.
As I started at Hogwarts it was a relief, a kind of freedom, to drop most of these behavioural guidelines. It was neither Leta's nor my biggest dream to end up as a respectable arm-candy to some pureblood gentleman, daring to hope to give birth to a heir and spend the rest of our lives in utter boredom. Only that was all our families expected from us.
Leta and I knew each other since early childhood when I still visited her family in my best dress and vice versa. Leta had a free mind and while she was proud of her heritage, she never let the traditions restrict her freedoms.
And I… I had never been a girl for being stuck inside. I craved fresh air, sunshine, soil and grass under my feet. Green grass. Like my name.
While the hall slowly emptied as class time drew closer, the students who had passed their O.W.L.s the former year remained sitting on the rich breakfast-loaded house tables.
Our timetables had not yet been decided and so we waited for our head of houses, Professor Aragon, to finally rise from the teachers' table. I let my gaze wander around to the other tables and found only fourty students left, ten from each house.
I concentrated back on my newest plantlet to study it for the first time. It looked like a lignified, brownish thin stick reaching the length of a finger and then sprouting six smaller and thinner branches from the top. They were swaying slightly as though a breeze was rustling through it; its miniature leafs moving along.
"What's this?", Leta asked curiously and reached out to touch the delicate foliage.
"Watch out-" I started, but the plant had already raised one of its branches and whacked it onto Leta's hand.
"Ouch!", she shrieked and ripped back her hand, an angry red string garnishing the back of it. "What is that thing?!" She stared at it appalled and then at me.
"I- it's… well, it's a cutting from a… a whomping willow.", I hushed her, afraid a teacher would catch upon the ruckus.
"Flora! That's a really dangerous thing! How did you-"
"Miss Greengrass, Miss Lestrange?"
I jumped as I heard Professor Aragon's voice behind me, the Slytherin Head of house. Leta must have done the same as she had knocked over her glass of leftover pumpkin juice, which now seeped slowly into the tablecloth.
Professor Aragon was a tall man, pale, with short dark hair and no beard. His teaching and expression were often stern and I did not like him very much.
"I did not mean to startle you.", he said slowly, his gaze wandering from the orange puddle on the cloth to me and I did my best to look innocent, while I reached behind me and moved the pot so it was concealed behind my back.
He cleared his throat and handed me a piece of parchment.
"Miss Greengrass, I set your timetable as I thought fitting, assuming you still follow the career of a Healer?", he asked and I nodded quickly.
"You will want to focus on potions then, as Professor Fronsac only accepts the most diligent students in his N.E.W.T.s class. Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures as electives, yes. And here you are, Miss Lestrange. As for a position in the Magical Law Enforcement, I see you fulfilled all the required O.W.L.s. Yes… Transfiguration, Charms and History of Magic. Professor Dumbledore was especially proud of your 'Outstanding' in Defence against the Dark Arts. Also, Care of Magical Creatures as elective."
At his words, Leta's expression darkened. She took the offered parchment from Professor Aragon without a word and tucked it into her robes.
"I am glad to welcome the two of you back in Care of Magical Creatures on Thursday then; we have to uphold the honour of Slytherin house after all!" He barked out a short laugh, which did not quite reach his eyes, and turned to tend to the other Slytherins.
Only as I heard him talk to Slughorn next, I let out the breath I'd been holding and my shoulders sagged down.
"Really, Flora!", Leta hissed in a hushed voice at me as I carefully put the pot back into my bag before Professor Aragon came back. She was cradling her injured hand to her chest.
"You risk getting expelled and honestly, keeping a whomping willow in your school bag! There is a reason why professor Beery never showed us one; there is just no safe way to treat them! What will you do when it-"
"Look, double period Defence against the Dark Arts today.", I interrupted her firmly, before her lecturing took the whole morning and my good mood with it. We'd had this discussion before and I was tired to go through it all over again.
Plants connected to me somehow and I found them to grow better when I had them close instead of leaving them in the greenhouses with professor Beery. It fascinated me so stick a seed into the soil and see it growing, unfurling leafs, blossoming and bearing fruits at some point.
To me this was life in its purest form.
Leta must have seen my defiant look, as she snapped her mouth shut. Eyes flashing angrily, she stuck up her nose and grabbed her bag.
I didn't bother to stop her as she strode away importantly, but rather followed behind Horace Slughorn out of the great hall and up the marble staircase to classroom four.
When I arrived there, about ten other students seemed to have taken the advanced class with Professor Dumbledore. Leta already sat in the rear left corner of the room. She glanced up at me once, then stuck up her nose and quickly began a conversation with her rather surprised looking neighbour.
I shook my head slightly at her and chose to sit next to a lanky boy I only knew from sight with thin brown hair, a Ravenclaw. At least I thought he must be as a blue and neatly folded scarf laid on the table next to his Defence against the Dark Arts book.
"Is this seat taken?" I asked as I sat down and started to unpack, not really waiting for his answer. I felt his eyes on me as I put my wand onto the desk and reached down for my quill.
"Apple wood, is it?", the boy spoke up. "A fine material, best suited to those of high ambition."
I looked up into his startlingly light blue eyes. "Yes, it is. But how do you know?" I had to avert my eyes from his rather pervasive stare and reached for my wand, feeling it hum between my fingers as I grabbed it.
"My father taught me. When I leave school, I will take over the family's wand making business.", he replied softly.
Suddenly I remembered those very eyes, icy as the winter, staring at me when I picked my wand a few years ago. "You wouldn't happen to know Mister Ollivander..?", I started hesitantly and he smiled.
"Finest wands since 382 B.C."
The door opened and as Professor Dumbledore strode into the classroom, our conversation ceased.
"Look, I'm sorry. How often do I have to repeat it?"
I'd just caught up to Leta after my Arithmancy lesson and found her heading to the dungeons towards our common room. As I still had potions, which also took place down there, I went to follow her. She had her lips pursed, but she looked at me out of the corner of her eyes.
"Where did you get it from?", she asked pointedly and I caught on.
"The whomping willow? Nicked it from greenhouse 3 only this morning."
"Before term started? You're such a freak, Flora." My smile dropped. She stopped walking and sighed, finally meeting my eyes fully.
"Listen, I won't ask you why you took it. Some fanged geranium in there probably bullied it, it didn't get enough dragon dung, or… I don't know. You gave me all of these already. But it's dangerous and forbidden! If someone saw it and recognized it, you'd take the train home tomorrow!"
I watched her and frowned, but found I didn't feel sorry anymore. She had reacted just like all of the others always reacted.
"But they never do recognize it, right? All they see is a plant that's not behaving like a plant should so they cut it down and trample it, and some freak running around with it. Isn't that what you see, too?"
I left her before she could reply and slipped around the corner to my classroom.
That evening I directly went to bed early, but not without demonstratively putting the small whomping willow onto the windowsill of the girls' dormitory, where it kept on moving its branches. One of them touched the glass and gently knocked a few times against it before settling down again. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.
It was a shame Leta couldn't see how conscious it was of its surroundings. It was most certainly not dangerous, only defensive. I sighed and sat down onto my mattress, undoing my golden blond hair from its bun.
Maybe I'd reacted too hard. But after five years of getting weird looks and people cracking silly comments about my family, about my house and about my passion I was tired of being called something like a freak.
The next day at breakfast I sat alone and quartered an apple, just as the daily post arrived in a flock of birds soaring into the great hall.
I looked up and found a familiar tawny owl circling high above me. A moment later, it had swooped down onto the table and laded between the fruit bowl and my morning coffee.
"Good morning, Duke." I sighed and stroked the head of our family owl. I untied a neat letter with the waxen Greengrass crest stamped into the seal, and Duke took a beak full from my cup before he took off.
I felt anticipation rising in my stomach as I broke the seal and pulled out a piece of parchment covered in tight green lines of elegant handwriting. I recognized it as my mother's instantly.
A letter that soon in term only could mean something important happened. I carefully unfolded the paper and flew over the words. I only had read the first few sentences from my mother and knew the content of all those following.
"Dear Flora, your father and I sincerely hope you took Mr. Nott's kind offer during your holidays into consideration. I ask you to send back your response soon, as arrangements need time for preparation. Your father insists upon reminding you of your responsibility-"
Then there was something about
"Your intention of becoming a healer seems most unfitting in our traditions-"
And an assurance of, when I'd sent back my positive answer, she would immediately write to the Headmaster to free me from as she called it "educational enrolment". She then concluded by stating her hope I'd be well and again wrote to send a response back by owl as soon as possible.
I stared at it in disbelief. How could they?!
My hand holding the letter was shaking, and I roughly stuffed the unread rest of it back into the envelope. The letter seemed to press down at me and I could barely breathe.
In the holidays, Mr Cantankerus Nott, the heir of the Nott family fortune and all other riches it seemed, had indeed come over to our house for a formal visit and asked when I would be finished with school.
As I had told him I would be starting sixth year, he'd looked a bit disappointed. I knew he'd wanted me as his wife then, even though he was nearly double my age. But I had slept well that night knowing there was a closed period of time for me at least until I had finished school.
But now! It sounded as though my parents would rather take me out of school early than to let that chance pass!
My mother, she knew how I felt about being pushed into the silly marriage tradition, and she still wrote this! My father was no surprise, he'd told me in the past he'd have me married rather sooner than later and I had been glad to return to the school every holidays I spent at home.
I rubbed my sweaty palms against my knees, thoughts of how I would reply swirled through my head.
Or, should I not reply at all, simply ignore the letter and wait? Would Mr Nott just drop the proposal if the response took too long?
I barely registered Leta dropping down onto the bench next to me until she spoke.
"Good morning. I hope you feel sorry for what you said to me yester- Flora! What's the matter?!", she exclaimed as I turned to look her in the eye and she saw my panicked expression.
I pushed the envelope in front of her and shakily drank the rest of my cold coffee while I waited for her to finish reading. "Oh… oh Flora. That's it then? Cantankerus Nott, your bespoken husband?", Leta said quietly, and I heard the pity in her voice.
"Yes!" I exclaimed, not able to keep it in anymore. "Cantankerus Nott, the famous, the wealthy, the twenty years older than me Cantankerus Nott! How could my parents just- without asking me- and they will take me from school!"
I was close to hysterics and Leta must have noticed, because she pulled me in a hug and spoke in a soothing voice.
"Calm down, we'll find a way out of it, I promise! Slytherin's don't just give up."
I breathed deeply to calm myself and yes, she was right. Nothing had actually happened yet, I could somehow get out of this.
"Right", I shakily laughed and wiped at my eye, "We're no Gryffindors after all."
And this was the first chapter. Newt Scamander will introduce himself in the next one, or so I've heard :) I want to write a story to relax and read, to develop slowly and naturally, so I myself am curious how it will actually develop.
Please leave a comment if you liked it, I'm glad for suggestions and improvements. I'm no native speaker, but I'll do my best