"Here you go, dearie. On they go!" Pomona said rather loudly as she handed Luna a pair of thick earmuffs. Clearly Pomona's own earmuffs had prevented her from realizing just how loud she was talking.
"Thank you." Luna said as she carefully placed the earmuffs on her head, checking to make sure that the seal was tight.
The ladies went to work uprooting now mature Mandrakes from their pots. They were prime for gathering, as they had just recently starting climbing into each other's pots.
It was not uncommon to pull out one Mandrake and find another one clinging on to it desperately as they were both yanked from a pot.
The earmuffs helped to dampen the sound, but the screams from their tiny mouths were still able to be somewhat heard. The same went for the shouting that Pomona and Luna were doing in order to talk to each other while they worked.
"It's downright dreadful is what it is. Hermione was such a bright student. It pains me to think of her laying lifeless like a statue in a hospital bed." Pomona said as she shoved a set of Mandrakes into a large jar.
The Mandrakes shrieked in protest as Pomona began to close the lid of the jar. Then she raised her wand, "Muffliato". The sounds of the screaming Mandrakes were locked inside the jar.
Pomona set the now sealed jar on a cart and moved her attention to the next clay pot.
"She isn't dead Pomona. Just petrified is all." Luna said, yanking a rather chubby Mandrake out its pot.
Luna sealed her chubby Mandrake in a jar the same way Pomona had, although her Mandrakes rolls were pressed up against the glass.
"We're lucky that you had a healthy Mandrake batch this year. They even matured in time. Severus and I will have the Mandrake Restorative Draught ready in no time and have everyone that's been prettified up and moving again." Luna said.
"Speaking of Severus" Pomona wiped the sweat from her brow, leaving a smudge of dirt behind. "I've noticed quite the change in our Potions Master this last year."
"Oh really?" Luna said nervously.
"Don't get me wrong," Pomona continued, "He is still quite the prickly little thing."
Luna chuckled as she sealed another Mandrake jar.
"But he's less so, if that makes any sense. I think we have you to thank for that" Pomona said as she gave Luna a little wink.
"Oh, I'm not so sure about that" Luna said, her cheeks becoming flushed.
"What else could it be? It's amazing how being in love can change someone. It's a good thing you came around. I thought he'd never move on from Lily." Pomona said.
"Well... He's never actually said that he loves me." Luna said as she nervously rubbed her neck, giving her a dirt stain to match Pomona's forehead.
The two stood for a moment in relative silence. The only sound was the muffled sound of Mandrake screams.
"Who is Lily?" Luna asked.
"Was..." Pomona said softly so that Luna almost couldn't hear her through her earmuffs.
"What?" Luna asked.
"Who was Lily." Pomona corrected her. "I'm afraid she's passed, the poor dear."
"Oh.." Luna said, unsure of how to respond.
"Lily Potter. She was Harry's mother. But before she was Lily Potter, she was Lily Evans. She was a beautiful red haired girl with a gentle soul. She and Severus were best friends for most of their school years. She defending him from a group of kids who bullied him. Odd enough, one of those kids was James Potter; Harry's father. It's funny, she hated him when she was younger, but she ended up falling in love with him all the same." Pamona said.
The last of the Mandrakes had been sealed in their soundproof jars, and the ladies removed their earmuffs.
"And Severus?" asked Luna.
"Well, isn't is obvious dear? They were close friends, but I'm afraid that young Severus saw Lily in a way that she just didn't see him. It must have crushed him to see her fall for a boy who tormented him... and then with the awful way she died."
Luna looked at the ground of the greenhouse. Why hadn't Severus ever mentioned this to her before? Is this why he hadn't told her that he loved her yet? ...Could he even love anymore?