Old School Week Among the Flowers

[Sebastian Kaimarama]

The holidays were still a bittersweet event for Sebastian, though in a very different way than they had been before. Now he was finally a Hogwarts student, finally together with his siblings again, but sometimes he missed home and his parents and his muggle friends and the familiar forests so much it hurt. Now that he had just left them again, he missed them more than ever. So to take his mind off things, he headed down to the Wild Patch to indulge in one activity that always calmed him. Sitting here in the dirt and the sunshine, tending to the flowers, was peaceful and satisfying. It made him smile.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Going home for the holidays was exactly what Poppy needed. The first term had been exciting but also completely overwhelming. But she would be lying if she said she hadn’t found herself missing Hogwarts when she was away. She loved visiting her parents and sharing all of the things she’d learned with them, but she was glad to be back. Homesickness didn't even have time to set in before she found herself in the Wild Patch garden to water the flowers. Plants always made her feel more at home and at ease, and she found herself there without thinking. After a moment she realized she was not alone. “Oh hello! I’m glad to see the garden is still doing well after the holiday break.” she said with a bright smile and a small wave.

 

[Sebastian Kaimarama]

Sebastian looked up abruptly as a voice came from nearby, then shook his head at himself for being so jumpy. Of course there would be other people here, on a day like this, though he was a little surprised he hadn’t noticed her. The girl looked vaguely familiar, probably from other Wild Patch events, and Seb had seen her in some of his classes, but they hadn’t spoken before. “Kia ora,” he said, smiling at her. “Yes, it seems to be doing quite well. I suspect they get the house elves or someone to water it so stuff doesn’t die over the holidays.”

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy grinned and walked over to the boy. She was fairly certain he was in her year, he seemed familiar but couldn't remember if she knew his name. "Oh yeah, that would make sense." she said. House elves were one of the many oddities about school she kept forgetting, mostly because she rarely ever saw them. "I'm Poppy." She added after a moment. "I don't think we've ever really talked before, but I've seen you around." she rambled a little, not wanting to seem rude or unobservant if they had met before.

 

[Sebastian Kaimarama]

Seb nodded awkwardly as the girl came over to him. "Yeah, I thought I recognised you. You're a Ravenclaw, right?" Those were the classes he'd seen her in, weren't they? He hesitated for a moment, terrified that he'd got it entirely wrong, and tried to remind himself that it didn't really matter. He'd make a much worse impression by getting all paranoid than he would by just getting her house wrong. Probably. She might take offence, but judging by her general attitude he doubted it. "I'm Sebastian," he added.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy smiled and nodded. "I am in Ravenclaw." she said slightly relived that he had recognized her. "Well it's nice to officially meet you." she gave a little nod and a mock curtsy as acknowledgment before bending down to pull up a few weeds. After moment she pushed back her unruly hair out of her face. "Did you have a good holiday? Did you go home to visit your family?" she asked.

 

[Sebastian Kaimarama]

Seb chuckled as the girl gave a little curtsey, and attempted a bow in return, though it didn't work very well from his sitting position. "Same to you," he said, smiling, and going back to his weeding as she did. "Yeah, it was great. My siblings both got to Hogwarts before me, so I see quite a lot of them, but I really missed my parents." And friends, he almost added, but that sentence had already come out sounding sadder than he had meant it to. "How about you?"

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy had never particularity liked pulling weeds but doing it with a friend was nice she thought. "Oh! You have siblings here? What houses are they in?" she asked excitedly. "I'm don't have any brothers or sisters so it's always been me and my parents. Being off at school has been kind of hard and I miss them a lot. But gardening helps!" Poppy rambled, feeling slightly embarrassed about confessing that she missed her parents, but Sebastian seemed like he understood.