Open A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose had brought her most prized plant just about everywhere. She was so proud of her growing belladonna. She knew that the plant was highly poisonous when ingested, but it wasn't like she was selling the berries as sweets. Rose also know that the plant was a relatively common ingredient in most potions. Rose grabbed the pot where the belladonna was growing in and made her way to the courtyard. She seated herself under one of the beams and looked at the vines. The view was nice and from here she could think about what she wanted to do this year. Things she wanted to achieve, people she could meet and especially what she could learn from herbology. She was always eager to learn more about plants, flowers and trees. Becoming Professor Carter his assistant had been the best choice she had made last year. She had gained more knowledge than she had ever dreamed of. There seemed to be no limit to the magical Herbology world and thus she hoped the Professor had time for a couple of sessions this year as well. Today wasn't the day to barge into his office, the year had barely just began and he was probably busy with all the new first years.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar had been stuffing his face full of food in the Great Hall when he walked into the courtyard, quite pleased with how full he was after dinner. He often found himself to be hungry still later in the evening but he was sure that such would not be the case tonight. He saw a familiar face as he looked around the courtyard and smiled widely, making his way over towards his friend. ''Hi you, what are you up to?'' the Ravenclaw asked, glancing down to her potted Belladonna for a moment before looking back up at her.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose was lost in thought, there was so much happening and the year had only just started. A voice pulled her out of her head and Rose looked straight at the boy. She recognized the voice easily and looked up excitingly. ''Oscar'' Rose said excitingly. ''Not much, just thinking about what I want for this year.'' Rose giggled, she wasn't ambitious, but she had goals in here life. ''What about you?'' Rose asked while looking at her plant. Rose liked Oscar and she was going to ask Oscar for the Yule ball this year. She wanted it to be special and thus she was growing a Venus fly trap that could hold a little paper saying: Do you want to go to the ball with me? Rose grinned while thinking of the idea, Halloween was first though.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar was actually surprised to hear that Rose had been thinking about what she wanted to do during their second year at Hogwarts, as she had made it very clear to him that she wasn't as ambitious or studious as he could be. She could be full of surprises sometimes. He shrugged when she returned the question. ''Not much, just wanted to spend a bit outside before retreating to the common room,'' the boy told his friend. As much as he liked spending his time up in the Ravenclaw common room, it could get rather crowded and noisy at times. He seated himself next to her and smiled at Rose. ''So did you come up with a list of things you want for this year?'' he asked curiously.

 

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

Ana Sofia had been enoying her time back at the castle. She'd already been doing plenty of painting since she came back, appreciating the fact that there was a whole new bunch of plant pots in their dorm this year for her to decorate. However, she also wanted to try something new, not just paint the same things over and over again. In her search for inspiration she had found herself walking around the castle although it didn't take long for her legs to take her outside instead. It was no secret she preferred to be outside a whole lot more than to be scooped up inside. Ana's face lit up when she made her way int the courtyard and noticed some other kids there. "Well if it isn't my two favourite plant-y people!" She giggled as she plopped down on one of the benches close to them, swinging her legs back and forth. "Watcha talking about?"

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose nodded, although the Hufflepuff common room was basically outside inside. She could guess what was in the Ravenclaw common room. It was probably filled with books, piano’s and other brain stimulations. A bunch of people reading books in two seconds and then grabbing a new one. Rose laughed by the thought. ‘’The list isn’t that big, there are only two points on it.’’ Rose paused ‘’I want to know more about plants and participate more in Hogwarts events like the Halloween feast and the Wild Patch Club.’’ Last year she hadn’t participated in any of the events. She hadn’t even brought a Halloween costume with her. Rose had made last year’s costume rather quickly and she had needed Ana’s help for that one. Otherwise she would have gone in bed sheets. When she wanted to talk about something else, they were joined by Ana. Rose laughed when Ana had nicknamed them Plant people. ‘’Plant things Ana, the only thing plant people do.’’ Rose grinned ‘’Soon you will be a plant person too and you can join our group.’’ Rose laughed and looked at the brown-haired girl. ‘’How are you?” Rose said while smiling.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar listened attentively when Rose told him about the two things on her list for this year. The things she listed weren't the things he was thinking of when one was thinking about they wanted for the year, but he still liked one of them - the wanting to know more about plants. ''Do you have to dress up for the Halloween feast?'' he asked. He was about to ask her if she could help him find a good costume for him so that they could go to the Halloween feast together when Ana joined them. He smiled widely up at her and let Rosemarie tell her what they were talking about. ''Wait, what group?'' Oscar asked, turning his head back around to Rose in confusion. He was not aware that he had joined a group for plant persons, whatever that was. Was he a plant person? And if so, when did that happen? He certainly liked plants but last time he had checked, he was still very much a human.

 

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

Ana laughed at Rose's response, shaking her head at the very thought. "I said plant-y people, not plant people!" She giggled, in her mind imagining Rose and Oscar as actual plant people but quickly shaking the thought away. Oof, scary. "Like people who.. enjoy taking care of plants and stuff. Not people who are plants. That would be sooo weird." Ana looked at them expectantly, hoping they kind of understood what she had been going in her choice of words. She wouldn't put it past hogwarts to have actual plant people somewhere around though. Maybe they were living amongst them. Maybe they just didn't draw attention to themselves. Maybe they were being protected by magic, made to look like normal people. Ana continued swinging her legs back and forth as the thoughts ran wild in her head, only returning to the world of the living when Rose asked her a question. "Good! Finally finished painting all of the plant pots." She smiled brightly, proud of her own work. "Unless you've got some more hidden somewhere that I haven't seen yet." Ana joked before looking from Rose to Oscar. "Or unless Oscar's need some decorating as well?" He added, wiggling her eyebrows at the boy as she waited for a response.

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Rose had no clue if you actually needed to wear a costume for the feast. She just assumed it was the rule, since everyone came full clothed to the feast. ‘’I don’t know, try it out and go as Oscar’’ Rose grinned. When Rose spoke about the plant person group Oscar was totally clueless which was expected. The group didn’t exist and Rose hoped it was never going to be a thing. Ana spoke about plant people and Rose wondered if there were leaf people somewhere. With a skin made out of plants and vines. ‘’Definitely’’ Rose agreed with Ana. ‘’The group doesn’t exist Oz, it’s a joke’’ Rose grinned and smiled. Ana seemed to be done with her pots, something that made Rose exited. Ana was such a creative person and her paintings always looked amazing. ‘’I don’t think so, I probably have some in my trunk, but can’t be that many’’ Rose said. She had brought a bunch of simple brown pots with her. They just worked the best for her type of plants. She wondered if Oscar would love some painted pots. ''Ana has some wicked painting skills'' Rose tuned in.

 

[Oscar Davies]

Oscar's mind was still thinking of the plant people group, imagining what plant people might look like and how they would function in society. If they were partially plants that would mean that they'd have to live on water and sunlight for the most part, which then made him wonder if plant people could only come out when it was raining or if they'd be standing under the shower for most of the day. Which was also weird because how would they get their sunlight? It were odd thoughts and Oscar found himself being pulled away from them when Rosemarie told him that the group did not exist and that it was a joke. Still, he couldn't stop himself from quite vividly imagining plant people now. ''Do my pots need decorating?'' the Ravenclaw asked the girls, a little confused and now wondering whether his pots were boring or not. He had never thought about decorating them but if the girls thought they should, well, then who was he to deny his pots to be decorated by Ana. ''Okay, well, I only have my Venus flytrap but it's up in my dormitory at the moment,'' he said, looking at Ana. ''I can give it to you later?''

 

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

As their conversation continued Ana wondered if Rose and Oscar had been as intrigued by the idea of actual plant people existing as she had. They liked plants so she figured they had to. Or perhaps they'd appreciate it more if plants just remained plants, without being able to talk back. She sat up slightly when Rose mentioned she might have a few more pots, although it mainly made her wonder where her friend could've been hiding those since most of the window spaces in their dorm had all already been occupied by the girl's plants. She perked up when Rose mentioned her painting skills to Oscar, smiling at her friend's choice of words. Wicked. She liked that. "If they are not yet, then yes." She excitedly nodded to the boy's question, a firm believer that just the tiniest bit of decoration could make plain things so much more interesting. It didn't always have to be bright and stand out, but she could easily paint his plant pots to fit in more with their surrounding. Different shades of blue would likely already be an upgrade. "Yeah, sure!" Ana smiled brightly when he mentioned bringing his plant down later. "You'll have to stay with me to make sure I don't accidentally hurt his plant though." She added as she looked over from Oscar to Rose, knowing that she'd feel a whole lot better if Rose was there with her rather than her just being left with the plant on her own.