Greenhouse 1
A soft humming sound emits from a corner the greenhouse.
Light pours down from the ceiling, magiced to emit artifical sunlight to keep the plants from wilting away in
the winter. The magic is specifically configured to shut down and turn on at
certain hours, so even if it is bright in the green house, it doesn't always
mean it's bright outside. This is one such case. While it isn't late enough
that people would be violateing curfew, it is
generally empty, because most of the students and faculty are still eating
dinner at the moment. The person who's humming is the only being currently
present. She wasn't at dinner at all, again. It's something that her friends
are starting to get used to. She had been dragged off by Draco
once, but this time she vanished from the common room shortly before the meal
and grabbed something early from the Great Hall. Wrapped up in a cloth napkin
at her side is the remainder of the small meal. Cho's
back resting against the empty wall; sits on the floor, her head lowered to
rest on a bent knee as she continues to hum the tune softly. There are more
than a few tall plants that would mask her from the rest of the greenhouse, if
it wasn't for her humming.
Well, now, dinner's just ending, or it already has for a
few people, one of them being Draco Malfoy, who is flanked, as he normally is (Though not that
often, as of late), by his two cronies, Vincent Crabbe
and Gregory Goyle. They don't talk, just simply
walk... walk through the grounds, around the castle and past the greenhouses.
Or, well, the two goons end up walking past. Draco
stops just outside, one eyebrow lifting. "You hear something?"
Neither of the other two say a word, they just glance
to one another and then back at the blonde. "Like... humming." o.o;
Crabbe blinks. "You're
going nutters." c.c
Draco scowls. "I am not nutters, you Neanderthal." And then they both kinda... back off. "Sounds kinda familiar." So, he opens the door to the
greenhouse and steps inside to investigate, leaving the other two to stand
there and figure out something to do.
Goyle glances to Crabbe. "He says he's not nutters."
<.< Well, DUH. Way to repeat what Draco said.
Crabbe glances back to Goyle. "I'm still hungry." >.> The other
nods, so they head off together back to the Great Hall like the greedy gluttons
they are.
It has appeared as if he was without his usual entourage
a lot lately, at least as far as a particular Ravenclaw
has recalled. After the incident with the bludger
though, even Cho will agree that the two have their
merits. The artificial sunlight continues to pour out of the magiced ceiling, shimmering off the glass sides. The heat
from the magic is noticeable from the outdoor chill, but it isn't so much that
the plants are drying up. It's just warm enough, but still, warmer than
outside. The smells of the room assault any nose that enters, but for the most
part it's a planty, flowery smell. Nothing
that repluses the senses, unlike how the Potion
classroom can at times.
The humming should be recognizable, so he is hardly going
nutters. At this very moment it even happens to be
the exact same song that he was humming up in the
Been at least about a year since he's
been inside Greenhouse 1. It certainly hasn't changed very much, not
that he had been expecting it to. He searches for the source of the noise with
a look moving from one end to the other, but then it ends and..
that's it. Now, if it weren't so familiar, both the
song and the voice humming it, he probably would have just continued on his
merry little way, but... "Cho?"
It's a guess, but the Slytherin is MOSTLY sure that
it happens to be her. He makes sure he says it loud enough so that it echos faintly through-out. "Are you in here?" In
a way, he feels blind, locked in a world of darkness, searching for someone to
assist him, but then again, he's not, and the only reason he remotely feels
that way is all just because Draco can't actually
find her in the mass of plants. He's not tall enough to look over some of them,
after all.
Oh. Not a student just in for a clipping for class. Cho lets out a small sigh and takes a few moments to
herself before he can hear a rustling of cloth and a reply, "Yeah."
She slides up the wall to her feet, the cloth gathered in her hands. "What
are you doing in here?" she speaks softly, looking in the direction the
voice came from. She's even shorter than he is, so she can't really /see/ him...
Movement can be heard again as she starts to walk up the row of plants, until
she reaches the place and appears in his area. She's wearing a light smile, but
there's a distinctive pinkish tinge to her cheeks and it certainly isn't from embarrassment,
though he may not realize that. "You never exactly struck me as a
greenhouse visitor, Draco."
...Were you doing something illegal back there? Like
smoking pot? Not that he knows what pot is. Marijuana probably isn't a plant
that happens to grow in the wizarding world.
"I'm not." Draco says, folding his arms
across his chest, huffing indignantly. "Whenever I'm here, it's because of
Herbology, but I just heard familiar humming when
passing by, so I thought I'd... just poke my head in." A bit of a smirk then
crawls lazily across his lips. "You didn't strike me as a greenhouse
visitor, either. Why are you in here?" Now he asks the questions!
Pot is certainly not what she was doing. And unless Draco had his daddy make crying illegal over night, she certainly
wasn't doing anything that would be considered against the laws. "Oh, sorry. I didn't realize I was making that much noice." Cho says when he
mentions her humming. She tries to recall what it was exactly that she was
humming, but it already slipped her mind. She probably had a few more songs
before he opened the door going through her head and being put into the air
with a light hum. She corrects him after a second, "I used to come here a
lot." but he likely doesn't want to hear about that, and she doesn't want
to talk about it either, so everyone wins. She does, however, give a vague
answer to the question, "I just wanted to be alone for a while. You know
how that is, I'm sure."
Draco moves his hand to the
handle of the door, then twists it, preparing to leave
right then and there. "If you want to be alone, I can leave. I don't
mind." God, he knows what it's like when you want to be alone and the
people around you just won't shove off. After that encounter with the Dementors, he was just like, wanting to get away from it
all, to think over things, especially what he had seen in his head while in
their presence.
There's a pause, then Cho
shakes her head, "No, it's-- I don't need to be alone anymore." It's
true enough. She doesn't exactly want to go back to being alone, because then
she'll start crying again, and it's unknown when
she'll finally stop. The next person who walks in might not so easily dismiss
the pink tinge to her cheeks and she'd rather not have questions. Especially if they happen to be from Professor Sprout. She
starts to walk closer to him, still holding on to the smile, "Did you feel
all right this morning? I meant to ask you at one of the meals..." But she
was likely detained by her friends, or they weren't there. She certainly wasn't
at dinner at the very least.
He makes a somewhat skeptical face for a few moments,
eyes looking over the girl critically, but it doesn't last long. The answer
proves to be sufficient. He releases the handle of the door. "My back's so
terribly sore." Comes the act, along with a wince, as though it had just
caused some momentary grief, but then Draco begins to
snicker, which ruins the entire thing. "But I'm sure that I'll live. Are
you sure you don't want me to leave? I can, you know. It's not a problem,
really." God, he's starting to sound like that babbling idiot, Potter.
And for a second, it seems she actually bought it! Cho starts to move forward, reaching her hand up as if that
would help anything, but then she hears the snicker and she lets it lower. Is
he trying to take advantage of her sincere compassion? Well, she wouldn't be
surprised if that was the case. At the babbling though, her eyebrows raise ever
so slightly. If he'd blushed as red as a beet as he said that, he'd probably be
even more like Potter than the rambling 'it's not a problem'-ness. Her smile
softens again, "No, really, it's all right. But if your back really does
hurt--" She pauses, then shakes her head. No, he
wouldn't want her help even if he really was in pain. "You've honestly
never been in here for leisure time?" It's asked, but she doesn't really
need the answer. Like she said before, he never struck her as a greenhouse
person. She wouldn't doubt if Herbology was his most
hated class.
That's a really good guess and awfully
close to the truth, too! He doesn't like Herbology,
but hate is such a strong word. He doesn't hate it. Draco
hates Arithmancy, which he took due to not having an
interest in any of the other optional, like Muggle
Studies, for instance. WHAT? Draco's taking Arithmancy? Well, of course! He's not exactly an idiot. His
behavior could suggest different, but that should be more coupled with actual
wisdom, which Draco severely lacks, not intelligence.
"No. I've had no reason to. Half of these plants can tear your arm off in
a second, you know." >.>; And we all know Draco's
allergy to pain. 'AHHH! IT'S KILLED ME! I'M DYING!'
*cough*
Tear your arm off? Cho lets out
a small laugh, but she remembers his injury. Everyone who was on a Quidditch team that year does. They moved the schedule of
the games around because of the Slytherin Seeker's
injury. And that inquiry and everything... "No,
don't worry. All the really dangerous ones are kept in the back." She
points towards the direction of the farthest wall of the greenhouse. "But
if you don't visit here often, you probably wouldn't realize that." Her
smile is kind, even if she did sort of laugh at him. "Though, the
lightning grass there seems to have taken an attachment to you." She
motions towards a yellowish tall grass that just happens to be leaning as far
in the direction of Draco as they can. Still a good
foot away from him, but in case he starts to freak out, she says, "It's
completely harmless though." She's pretty sure it's learnt in 5th year
studies, but he might not be that far yet. "It just tends to be... attracted
to..." She clears her throat. "Well... certain kinds of oils."
She's trying so hard not to laugh again. She doesn't want him to think she's
insulting him or anything.
O_O Ahhh! Evil plant! It's
trying to get him! It's going to eat him! ...Wait a minute. Lightning
grass? Well... that's okay, then, but he does ever so slightly edge away
away from it, just to be on the safe side. Even
things that happen to be harmless have managed to hurt him, sometimes severely,
before. "Are you implying that perhaps I shouldn't slick my hair back,
anymore?" ~.~ He likes it just the way it is,
thank you. Stop laughing at him. He'll glare! Well, Draco
is kinda doing that already, just because of the
first time she happened to laugh at him.
The smile does widen, but she's able to keep the laughter
on the inside, even if it shows up in her eyes. At least she doesn't look as if
the tear thing is going to be an issue. If he'd have been looking for it, it
was still for a few minutes after he entered. "No, your hair looks
fine." The lightning grass certainly agrees. The laughter definitely shows
up in her eyes as she thinks of that last part, but Cho
refrains from saying it, he's already glaring at her, "It's completely
harmless, I promise." She's talking about her laughter this time. But he
may not realize that. "If you want to leave though, you could always walk
me back to the castle."
Harumph. He doesn't like that look in her eyes. "The last
thing I need is plants becoming smitten with my hair." Again, the blonde
reaches for the handle to the door, twists it as he had done before, but this
time, he pulls it open and gestures to it like the wonderful, perfect gentleman
he is. Heh.
"Shall we get going, then?" Looks like he doesn't
mind walking her up to the castle, after all, as long as she doesn't mind the
usual Draco attitude, of course.
If his attitude was so repulsive to her, Cho likely wouldn't have bothered to carry the attempt at
friendship as far as she has. Oh, she still would have befriended him if she
could have, but she wouldn't have invested so much of her emotional energy into
him. It's the fact that he can occasionally be very charming that keeps her
going. And the fact that he seemed to read her mind certainly helps, even if it
did startle her for a moment. At the gentlemanly gesture, she moves outside.
"I suppose so." But right when she gets out into the chilled air, she
suddenly turns around and looks back into the building, for some reason.
Charming? Draco? Boy, if some
of the other students, like those closely associated with Harry Potter, heard
that, they would probably be in tears laughing. It just doesn't seem at all
like the slimy, greasy Slytherin git
whom they've all come to hate and despise. The boy falls her out immediately afterwards,
but when she turns to look back into the building, that's when he begins to
sneer. "Of course, if you'd rather stay in here all evening, that's quite
all right, too. I can always just walk up to castle by myself."
The reason Cho's able to see
that side of him has a lot to do with the fact that she never hated or despised
him. Oh, she wasn't a fan of his Anti-Potter movement last year, and she
wouldn't mind if he stopped bickering with Harry as much as he does, but she's
not going to hold that against him. They're rivals, though she has yet to
realize to what extent exactly. She blinks and quickly shaves off whatever
thought she was having that made her turn around. "No, I'm sorry. Let's
go." And don't sneer at her like that. He's the one receiving letters from
dead people!
He's allowed to sneer at whomever he wants to. It's not
like it's a crime or something, you know. Well. At least the expression leaves
as he nods his head and turns away to start walking back up towards the castle.
It probably won't take that long, either. Sure is a lot colder out here than in
the greenhouse. Um. Nice chilly weather we're having
out here? Wow. Draco's real wonderful when it comes
to conversation.
The silence isn't quite as comfortable as the one they
had over by the lake, or at least not for Cho, but
that probably has something to do with the mood she's in tonight. Even if the lightning grass helped 'lighten' it a bit. She
folds her hands in front of her, still holding onto the folded cloth napkin
containing the remainder of the small meal she had in the Greenhouse. It is a
little bit odd that they keep running into each other like this. The crazy
Divination teacher would probably have something to say about that, probably
add in some nonsense about the stars and tea leaves and mist in crystal
balls... (There's a reason Cho only took Divinations
one year...) Once they get close enough to the castle, she finally decides to
break the silence, but it isn't much of a break. "So..." See? Not
much.
She breaks the silence and then he turns, using the balls
of his feet to pivot himself on the steps of stone. "Sooooo..."
Draco returns, in a similar tone of voice, but the
way he says it almost sounds as though he were making a meal out of the word,
but he doesn't just trail off entirely. His expression grows serious, or as
serious as it can for the young Slytherin, a hand
departs from his side and extends across the distance between them. His fingers
stretch, reaching so that they may lightly brush against the tip of the girl's
cheek, if he allowed to do so. "You want to know
something I've noticed? Tears really don't suit you, Cho."
And that's it. That's all he says, and although it's with a bit of that
arrogance, there's even a touch of... care, perhaps even tenderness... behind
it.
As he suddenly turns to face her, Cho
lets her mouth stay open for a second before she closes it. It was just a
surprise. And what follows completes the surprise. She doesn't try to pull away
at all, but her eyes do close for a brief second at the touch. It doesn't last
very long because what he says causes her to stare at him. He noticed? And the
tone in his voice... it's just... while it still has that old Draco tone in it, there is something odd that gives her
pause. Man, he's messing with her expectations again. "Draco, I--." She cuts off, then
offers a smile and nods, "Thank you." For showing he has something
similar to a heart? For noticing? For
actually returning some of the friendship? Well, probably all of the
above, since they are sort of related..