Hey! New chap. Completely checked and even beta'd by the lovely ckontowderdon32 (wow, you name is so hard to spell). So read!


"Darby, what on earth is your problem?" asked Minnie, glancing at him through her slightly dirty glasses. She then took them off and wiped them on her robes, which were about as dirty, since they were in Herbology and really didn't make any difference. Annoyed, she shoved them up her nose again.

"Huh?" said Darby, whose pot of Addling Azaleas was slipping out of his hands. Both Minnie and Sara were looking at him, confused. "Oh!" he said suddenly, tearing his gaze from an orange-headed person who was two seats away and handing Sara the Azaleas. However, he was obviously still not all there and dropped the pot a metre away form Sara's hand. The pot broke into a thousand small pieces with a resounding crash and a noxious fume spread throughout the greenhouse, making Minnie light-headed and giddy.

"STOP!" yelled the voice of Professor Twigg, the Herbology professor. Pulling his oddly alive wand (was that a leaf growing on it?) out of his pocked, he muttered a indistinguishable incantation. Minnie and Sara both shook their heads, feeling as if they had just woken up.

Darby had resumed staring at Olive while Professor Twigg walked towards them, gnarled face, like a tree himself, rather confused.

"Miss Davis," he said. "My star student, doing something as clumsy as dropping a pot? Unbelievable!" He shook his head mildly. Sara looked abashed, and hit Darby over the hand with a miniature-rake thing that Minnie didn't know the name of.

"I'm sorry, Professor," said Darby. Professor Twigg walked off. It was impossible to tell if he heard or not. That was just the way he was.

"Would you stop staring at Ginger-head and start helping us pot azaleas?" hissed Minnie. She looked at him closely, and then scrutinized Olive, who didn't have a speck of dirt on her.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think that you were in love with her," said Minnie, laughing nervously. Darby looked back at his swaying azalea dreamily and sighed, Minnie looked alarmed.

"You aren't, are you?" she asked.

"She's so beautiful," said Darby.

"Ravishing," said Sara briskly, breaking into the conversation crankily. "Now hold this pot and don't drop it!" She handed him a small flowerpot and she and Minnie began to try and force the squirming roots of the azalea into the pot. Darby was obviously not paying attention.

Professor Twigg began to check each group's pots, signalling the end of Herbology. Just like every teacher before him, he began to talk about their OWL, abeit in his absentminded way.

"You will be graded on your ability to deal with plants, like the Mandrake and Fanged Geranium, and your ability to recognize them and their uses." He frowned, looking more like a gnarled tree than ever as he passed Sara, Minnie, and Darby's table.

"Fafner, that is not the proper way to pot an Addling Azalea," he said. Darby's plant squirmed uncomfortably, half out of the soil. "Next time, spend less time staring at girls and more time potting." Darby went red.

"I want an extra six inches on that essay, Fafner," said Professor Twigg as the bell rang.

The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students trooped up the hill tiredly, covered from head to toe with dirt. Except for, Minnie noted, Olive. Darby was still staring at her, and kept tripping over his feet. Minnie sighed. Sara rolled her eyes.

"Well," muttered Minnie to Sara. "At least we have Potions next, with the Slytherins. He wouldn't dare daydream during that." Sara sighed.

"What about you?" she asked.

"What about me?" asked Minnie, even though she knew what Sara was talking about.

"Mr Flight-of-death?" she said, rolling her eyes. Minnie blushed and stared at her feet. Thankfully, Darby tripped flat-out at that moment and landed with a thud on the grass.

"Darby?" asked Minnie, bending down. Without looking at her, Darby got up and stared at Olive again.

"Erm," said Sara. "Why don't you, y'know, talk to her?" Darby blinked at her. Apparently, the thought had never occurred to him.

"Well," he said, "What do I say?"

"Oh," said Sara, slightly fazed. "Erm, I dunno, just don't comment about the weather."

"Ok," said Darby. Minnie gaped after him, then turned to Sara.

"That was weird," she said.

"No kidding," said Sara. "That must be one heck of a love potion." Minnie stared at her.

"What?" Sara rolled her eyes, making Minnie grit her teeth. Up the grass a little, laughter floated from Darby, Olive, and a few of Olive's friends.

"I mean, come on. Olive Hornby's dead ugly, mean and a stuck up witch," said Sara. "And, honestly, Darby could have almost any of the girls in this school, and a few out of it." She gave Minnie a sideways glance as she said this. Minnie returned it with a calculating look.

"You don't...y'know, like Darby, do you?" she asked, mildly annoyed, though she didn't know why. Sara looked as if she would've liked to bang her head against a hard object, preferably a wall, but contented herself with rolling her eyes.

"No, I don't like Darby," she said pointedly, but Minnie didn't pay attention past the 'no' part.

"Ok, good. Aren't love potions illegal?" she asked briskly, as if washing her hands of the topic. Sara sighed.

"Yes, love potions are illegal. And you should've known that," said Sara. Minnie looked at her blankly.

"I don't read the rules or anything," she said.

"No, because Phil Terran tried to give you one in third year, but Darby hexed him," said Sara. "I think he was jealous."

"I didn't know that," said Minnie, as Darby himself, dejected, wandered back to the group. "What would he be jealous of?"

"What would who be what-what?" asked Darby wearily as they climbed up the stairs into the shade of the castle.

"Nothing," said Sara.

"Never mind," said Minnie. "Don't you have a spell thingy that would tell you about a potion in something?" Darby frowned, then nodded.

"Yeah..." he said. "Why? If it's for the homework, it's not due until tomorrow..."

"No," said Minnie. Sara leaned forwards excitedly.

"Darby, Olive's putting lov—ow!" Here Minnie stepped on Sara's foot. Sara shot her a rebuking look, hopping on one foot.

"Do you still have those chocolates she gave you?" asked Minnie.

"No," said Darby slowly. "I ate them all. Why?"

Minnie hit her head gently against the wall.

"No reason," she said, muffled by cold stone. "None at all." Darby gave her a funny look as they climbed to Gryffindor Tower to get their Potions stuff.


Y'know, about well, almost all of my fanfic will soon be likely ruined by Jo's newest masterpiece. So savor this chapter while it's still canon. AHHHHHHHH! Can't believe it's almost here!!!!!

Review, or I'll set an azalea on you!