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Strong odours of fertiliser assailed the senses of a group of about a dozen teenagers huddled at tables towards the centre of Greenhouse 5. Ivy was ever-so-slowly encroaching on the area around their work spaces, only retreating when Professor Sprout firmly threatened to give the vines a good “trimming”. Theodore placed his bag on the table furthest from Sprout’s workstation, riffling around for his essay on the differences of Snargaluff pods as opposed to Snargaluff root, particularly when used as potion ingredients. They had learnt how to extract the pods the previous week and this week they would be sectioning off roots for the school’s potion stores. Just as he located his essay, someone sat on the stool to his right.

“Fasinating, aren’t they, Snargaluff plants?” Neville Longbottom asked Padma Patil, who had just situated herself across from the dark-haired Gryffindor. She nodded in agreement and handed her essay to Professor Sprout as she passed by. Theodore was next to hand over his scroll of parchment, followed by Longbottom as Sprout rounded the table. A confused look passed over her face as she leaned down and whispered a question to Longbottom.

“No, professor, I haven’t seen her yet today,” Longbottom replied to the squat witch in a low voice.

As if sensing that she had been summoned, Hermione Granger entered Greenhouse 5 like a cyclone, just barely on time, as she fished for something in her schoolbag. She pulled out a thick scroll and avidly handed it to Sprout. Granger took two steps forward and then stopped, her eyes on Potter’s group at the other end of the greenhouse. Lavender Brown’s arms were squeezing around Ronald Weasley’s middle, so much that Theodore thought the Weasel might pop like a balloon, whilst Potter and the Gryffindor Patil twin carried on a conversation. They were making a valiant attempt to distance themselves, if only mentally, from the atrocity happening next to them. Granger spun on her heel and noticed the empty seat next to Ravenclaw Patil.

“May I sit with you Padma?” She asked, smiling hopefully. Studious Patil smiled back, nodded and moved to make a bit more room. The bushy-haired Gryffindor walked back around to the other side of the table and set her bag down. She looked at the two students sitting across from her, appearing eager to make nice with the rest of the group. Her smile faltered as she realised exactly who was seated directly opposite her. She quickly recovered as she noticed Longbottom next to him.

“Neville,” she said with a small pause, and then with an acknowledging nod, “Nott.”

“Granger,” The Slytherin replied with a similar, polite nod.

“You got here just in time, Hermione. I think Sprout was worried you’d be late,” Neville replied with a small smirk and a glint in his eye.

Granger flicked her gaze back to Longbottom and smirked back. “Over my dead body.”

Theodore stared at her, almost not believing she was the same person he found two hours ago, puffy eyed and ink covered, weeping in the library. Her hair was now under control, only slightly windblown, and there was no trace of the ink anywhere to be found. She appeared to be completely recovered, but something was not quite right. Her smirk at Longbottom had not reached her eyes. For the second time that day, he began to wonder at the cause of her distress but his train of thought was halted as Sprout addressed the class.

“Looks like we’re already in groups of four? Excellent! Each group please send a representative to the front of the greenhouse so I can distribute the plants, thank you!” she exclaimed. Longbottom enthusiastically volunteered for their group, as Potter did for the group in the front, though Theodore was sure it was for a completely different reason. “Group two, who are you sending? Thomas? Alright, come on then!”

Dean Thomas followed after Longbottom, almost tripping over some rogue vines that had somehow managed to evade Sprout’s watchful eye. Irritably whispering something about “Bloody plants,” Thomas hastily righted himself. Theodore busied himself with his protective gloves as he subtly returned his attention to the young women in his group. They were already deep in conversation.

“Parvati says it’s only day three and she’s already at her wits end with Lavender,” Swotty Patil gossiped to Granger. “She’s barely paying ‘Vati any attention, and when she does, she only talks about her ‘Won Won’.” Patil pointed her finger into her mouth and Granger’s face immediately contorted into a look of disgust at the pet name. His eyes momentarily jerked to Weasley and Brown. Was Brown’s left hand up under the Weasel’s jumper? The Nott heir shuddered. He had to agree with the girls’ sentiments.

Longbottom returned a few minutes later with a wide, stumpy Snargaluff, which was currently doing its best to strangle him with its thick vines. Theodore uncoiled the vine around Longbottom’s neck and pinned it to the table as Patil did the same to the vine around his right arm.

“Thanks,” said Longbottom as he readied himself for the next stage of the assignment. “I think it would be most efficient if Theo and I held the vines, while you two extract the roots and repot it," he suggested. Theodore had no reason to argue. Granger’s eyes narrowed for an instant, seemingly confused about something, but she did not vocalise whatever it was. “And remember to take only about half, it’ll need the rest in order to regenerate,” Granger and Patil both nodded and grasped their knives as the boys pulled on the vines.

The group worked diligently and made quick work of the task. Once the Snargaluff was repotted and returned to the front, they bundled the extracted roots, and turned them into Professor Sprout. Sprout smiled pleasantly and told them they could use the rest of the lesson to study whatever they would like. They cleaned up their workstations and sat back down upon their stools.

With the remaining 30 minutes, Theodore decided that now was as good a time as ever to revise his Arithmancy and he began checking his calculations. The rest of the class was still quite rowdy, so it made concentration difficult. About ten minutes in, he sighed, set his quill on the table, and rubbed a hand down his face. The echoes of the voices reverberating around the greenhouse were giving him a headache.

With another quiet huff, he looked up and his eyes landed on Granger’s face. He would have thought her to be reading based off of his initial glance, but he saw no movement in her eyes. Instead, they were fixed on a single point in her Herbology book, as if she were deeply contemplating something. Only Salazar knew what. Ravenclaw Patil leaned over and began asking Longbottom questions about asphodel petals as she pointed to her text. Granger’s gaze suddenly snapped to Longbottom as she chewed her bottom lip. Then, unexpectedly, her eyes met Theodore’s.

A pretty pink colour tinged her cheeks. He swallowed. She opened her mouth as if to say something but wavered. Was she about to tell him off for what happened earlier that morning? He raised an eyebrow in question and leaned in ever so slightly. Noticing his actions, she seemed to make up her mind.