Flower Children

[Emeric Lancaster]

Leaving the confines of the Durmstrang Institute was an occurrence that did not happen often enough, but with the end of year holidays starting back up, Emeric was pleased to find himself able to roam freely in the outside world, away from all the classes, studying and schoolwork. Still, he did enjoy his time at the school. Even if he wasn't the most popular of kids, he had his siblings to help make things easier. Fenris kept the more aggressive of boys away from him and Lythande did the same for the girls, though neither of them really seemed to enjoy actually hanging out with him. They had their own friends and he understood that, they weren't all that into the same things he was. He spent more time in the gardens or around the Herbology greenhouses than anywhere else. His cousin Emmett would join him at times, bonding slightly through his interest in wandlore and Emeric's of plants, but even that was infrequent. It was okay though, he enjoyed the company his flowers and vegetables gave him. They listened when he spoke, albeit without much of a choice, and some of the more magical based were animate enough to make him feel like he wasn't just talking to a wall.

Leaving his vegetation was the hardest part of going home for the holidays, but the young boy was excited to find that there would be a Herbologist's Fair travelling across Europe. It's first few days were to be spent in Bulgaria, but his parents and siblings weren't all that curious to go. Even Emmett didn't much care for it. It had been a bit of a stretch, but Emeric ended up asking his eldest cousin to take him, one of the few people he spoke to who shared a fascination for the same subject as he. He didn't hold much hope as the man lived in New Zealand. However he was pleasantly surprised to hear back in no time at all, the man having come to visit family in Italy, which wasn't as far across the world.

So it was with a broad smile that Emeric approached the front of what appeared to be a towering, expansive greenhouse erected in an otherwise empty field, it's interior bursting with foliage dotted with coloured bulbs and flowers. His fingers fidgeted unconsciously with ropes of green as he gazed onward, looping stems of daisies to intertwine and form chains, coils of the white flora already decorating his arm. It wasn't something he did for the event specifically, but a general quirk. As he entered the fair, he was already eager to rush around to each stall and exhibit. His cousin seemed to notice, giving him permission to roam free as long as he checked back every hour and he did so without hesitation. not knowing where to start, he approached the nearest exhibit that caught his attention. A glass case housed a large, twisting willow sapling, its branches flexing on its own. "Woah." He breathed in awe, not having seen one in person before, even if it was only a baby. "It's beautiful." He spoke aloud, to no one in particular. He'd wanted one of the so called Whomping Willows of his own, but the trees were too rare and admittedly, too dangerous.
​

 

[Kairi Vittori]

Kairi Styx made her way through the crowd, with her big brother, Kaleb, watching over her with his newborn child and wife. After all, Kairi was still young and needed someone to look after her from time to time. Kaleb didn't seem to mind that he had to watch her while she attended a festival for Herbologists. Kairi had been looking forward to this since she heard about it a week ago. Thankfully, the family was in Bulgaria at the time, and could bring her by. Kairi was the only child of Kalif that managed to inherit the gift of Herbology, and the only one that had a deep passion for it, despite not even showing it. She was a curious Styx, that was for certain. She heard that the youngest one was sorted into Gryffindor. That was strange considering Lanithro's behavior. But, she didn't question it. She was once sorted into Slytherin there, hated it so much she wanted to be home schooled. Ever since then, she was rather happy with her new life. She was away from all the idiots from school, and she learned to raise her own magical plants. 'I hope that there was something more than just simple things I have seen, and grown before,' thought Kairi as she walked ahead of her siblings.

"Take care of Selvanna. I'll be okay on my own for a few minutes," Kairi assured Kaleb, before he took his fussing child elsewhere. Breathing a sigh of relief, Kairi decided to go find something else to look at. He looked toward the other exhibits, before she found one that caught her eye. It was a willow sapling, with branches that were moving on its own. She smiled softly to herself, knowing that she was displaying emotion, so she quickly hid it. Her eyes look to someone that said that it was beautiful, as if he were speaking to a young child. Her curiosity peaked, thus she turned her attention to him. He looked about her age. "You appreciate herbology as well?" There weren't many children here, except for some that just looked really bored. Kairi was not one of those. She appreciated the value of plants and what help they could provide to her family. If only they could have saved her sister, Kailie. Kairi pushed that thought back. The family was starting to return to as normal as it could.​

 

[Emeric Lancaster]

Though enamored by the curling, sentient sapling in front of him, Emeric's attention was caught by a young voice, coming from a girl close by. Initially he assumed she had been speaking to someone else, perhaps a friend or family member she was with, but as his eyes briefly flickered in the direction of the sound he realised she was addressing him directly. The boy attempted a subtle look over his shoulder to make sure she wasn't talking to somebody standing behind him before smiling lightly and nodding his head in response. "Yes, it's a favourite subject of mine. It's nice to see someone else my age who values it." Emeric didn't know too many others who were as invested in Herbology as he, even within the school. It wasn't the most popular of classes yet something about it captivated him. He'd been drawn to flora his whole life, both magical and not. From it's outward beauty to its inner capabilities, there wasn't much not to like.

Turning his head back to the glass habitat, Emeric's smile grew. "It's fascinating, isn't it? I haven't seen one of these so close before. Most trees almost pale in comparison. It's nice to see one capable of defending itself with...muggles doing as much damage to the earth's forests as it is." The Lancaster boy wrinkled his nose in distaste. He wasn't irked by non-magical people because of their inferiority, but more because of how careless they were regarding nature. He could understand their need for machines to help make up for their apparent in-capabilities, but not the monstrous creations tearing down woodland and damaging the earth.

 

[Kairi Vittori]

Her eyes narrowed slightly when the boy didn't seem to notice that she was talking to him. Who else? She was at this place alone, pretty much and he was the only one that was her age in this place. She really wanted to attend the school and she was starting to warm up to her chance to go. Maybe. Kairi cocked her head slightly to the side as she waited for him to say something to her. She needed to kno w if this was going to be a waste of her time or not. Finally, he replied to her. And his answer pleased the former Slytherin well. He felt the same as her. She was glad that someone her age valued it as well. Now it would be better if he were a pureblood. Her company was not to be wasted on those that were not worth her time. "My father used to teach Herbology so it was bound to rub off me. Of course he switched subjects." Yeah, he switched to a class that utilizes dueling, which was something that he was amazing in. She knew about her own skills in dueling, and she wanted to be like that, but how could she focus on Herbology and dueling?

He was irked by muggles it seems. That was a definite plus. "I know how you feel. Muggles are so careless. We'd be better off without them. And we wouldn't need to hide the magical plants such as this three, or the infamous whomping willow." Kairi sighed for a moment, before she brushed her hair over her ear. She decided to introduce herself, "My name is Kairi Styx. I'm a relative of the Zhefarovich family that attend Durmstrang. Direct descendant actually." She held out her hand toward the boy, as a polite gesture.​