InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I LOVE YOU"

Severus Snape (delicate_power) wrote in indarkness_logs,
@ 2010-08-29 14:22:00

Entry tags:

!complete, 2032 08, severus snape, swan prescott

RP: Silver bells and cockle shells...
Characters: Severus, poking Swan (and boy does that sound naughty...)
Time/Date: August 29, afternoon
Location: The garden
Warnings/Rating: Probably none
Summary: Plant identification
Status: Complete

Gardens and Severus did not get on, as a rule. For a potion-maker, Herbology was a necessary evil. He had accepted that fact early on in his Hogwarts career. He didn't particularly like plants -- or animals, for that matter -- but they were required for a good brewer to adequately tackle his work. Of course, he knew One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi backward and forward. Not that that had ever been much help.

Severus had been cursed with a black thumb, and he could kill a plant just by looking at it wrong on his worst days. He'd done well enough with the theory of Herbology, but he couldn't count the times Professor Sprout had tsked at him over his shoulder in her lessons, at the deplorable mess he'd made of the poor plants. It was for that reason alone that he was hesitant to visit the garden, as if the plants might simply wither and die upon seeing him, preemptively.

But he had promised to help, and it would certainly be a good idea to know what plants they had on hand that might be useful for potion-making. So he made his way down to the garden, after lunch. But he stopped short at the sight of the girl. The pictures on the network hardly did her justice, but she really was the spitting image. He shook his head after a moment of gaping unattractively, he was sure. "I'm sorry," he said, frowning ever so slightly. "You look a great deal like somebody I used to know." Then he offered her a tight-lipped smile.

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planted_it
2010-08-29 08:02 pm UTC (link)

Swan had been working at the signs for the plants she did know when she heard someone come out. As she'd gotten more than a few offers to help, she did glance up to see who it was. Gold-flecked blue eyes settled on the man, and she offered him a soft smile. "Do I?" That was a first. But then, if people sounded like each other - and that had been an interesting conversation to listen to - why shouldn't people look alike as well?

"There were some people on the network that sounded like each other. Or it was one person talking to himself," she replied, a little smile on her lips. She was fairly certain it was two different people though.

Pushing up to her feet, she brushed her hands off on the sides of her jeans before she stepped over to him. "I'm Swan," she said as she offered him her hand. "Were you just looking at the garden or were you one of the ones who offered to help with identification?" she inquired. It didn't matter to her either way. She had a garden with lovely plants that were growing well. In time, she'd expand the area of living earth, make a bigger garden, but this was fine for now.

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delicate_power
2010-08-29 08:24 pm UTC (link)

Severus nodded at the girl's request for confirmation. Apart from the eyes, she looked exactly like Miss Weasley. How very odd. "I must have missed that," he answered with a shrug, but then again, the sound-alikes could have been nestled in between all the 'Severus Snape, this is your life!' posts.

"Severus Snape," he said with a nod, extending his hand as well, to shake hers. In spite of the dirt. That was the other reason he'd never been too fond of Herbology. Grubby hands from potion-making was entirely different, somehow. "I was one of the ones who offered to help. Though only with identification, I'm afraid. I'm absolute rubbish when it comes to growing or tending them."

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planted_it
2010-08-29 08:41 pm UTC (link)

"Oh that's all right," Swan assured him. "I'm ... I'm very gifted with plants." She might explain, later, if he was interested, about her gift. "It's nice to meet you," she added belatedly after she'd turned away. She was simply eager to show him the plants she hadn't identified.

"A few people were out earlier," she said. "But I don't think they were ... from the same world the plants were." Swan wondered if that was even the right way to phrase it, but it seemed ... close enough. The plants weren't from her world, after all, so they had to be from someone else's.

"Those there," she said as she gestured toward the far left. "The three rows on the end. I haven't any idea what those are. And ..." she looked around and pointed to a small patch of sprouting seedlings. "Those are growing slower than the others, so I'm not sure you can even tell what they'll be yet." She was a little uneasy because of their growth rate. Everything else was growing fine and speedy, but those seemed to be going at a more normal rate. Perhaps they weren't responding as well, or perhaps they were simply lazy plants. Or they needed something this ground didn't have and she - somehow - couldn't provide.

"Lily thought they might be magical, but she didn't have any suggestions beyond that," Swan dutifully reported. "She wasn't out here very long," she continued. "It was the other day, before the magic stuff."

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delicate_power
2010-08-29 09:17 pm UTC (link)

"That's good, then," Severus answered with a small smile. Because, really, if they had to rely on his plant-growing abilities, they were sunk, no doubt about it. He nodded when she said that Lily had been by, following her over to the unnamed rows at the end. He crouched down to get a better look at the seedlings and smiled. "Well, it's a little early to be sure, but those look like hellebore, to me," he said with a slight shrug. Then he looked up at her curiously.

"Have you been, ah ... giving them a push, as it were?" he asked, eyebrows rising. Because hellebore was notoriously resistant to any magical means of accelerating the growth rate. Stubborn little blighters they were, but they were also very hardy and determined to stay alive, even in this barren looking soil. So, they might not grow as quickly as the others, but they would grow, all the same. As long as he didn't touch them before they were harvested, that was.

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planted_it
2010-08-29 09:42 pm UTC (link)

"No more than the others," Swan said, her brow furrowing a little as she glanced over to him. "It's just how I make them grow," she continued. "I can make things grow in the dark, when there's no water or proper air or sunlight. I've never had anything ... not grow." Or grow at a normal rate.

Maybe ... maybe her powers, like some of the others, were being somewhat crippled? Or maybe it really was the plant itself. Maybe her power simply didn't work on all other plants from different realities. "What does it do?" she continued. "The ... the hellbore," she said. Her head tipped to the side as she frowned. "That doesn't sound like a very pleasant name," she pointed out to him.

But perhaps it wasn't meant to be. It might be a bratty plant.

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delicate_power
2010-08-29 10:08 pm UTC (link)

What he wouldn't have given for her powers when he'd been at school. That would have been exceptionally helpfel. Ah, well. "I wouldn't take it personally, if I were you," Severus answered with a wry grin. "Hellebore is merely stubborn, and it will grow at its own rate, whether you like it or not."

He chuckled when she said the name wasn't pleasant. It wasn't, but it also suited this plant perfectly. "It's a purgative, and a mild poison, often used to help people bring up something more nasty. Also an abortifacient, when concentrated. And it can be used to ward off evil, for invisibility, and ... in one potion that I know of, it protects against anger and agitation."

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planted_it
2010-08-29 10:19 pm UTC (link)

Swan nodded slightly. "Is it poisonous to touch, or just when it's ingested? So I know ... for the sign." She hadn't stumbled across any others that were poisonous. Or at any rate, no one had identified them as such. "How long does it take to grow when it grows at a normal speed?" Everything else, of course, was growing faster. It was how they had strawberries already, though not as many as they would have had if the reavers hadn't torn up her first garden.

The watermelons should be ready in a couple of weeks, and the carrots a little before that. She thought it was too bad they couldn't ... invents seeds. But even if they just could find dead ones, she could make them grow.

She crouched down to peer toward the plant, eyeing it curiously before she shook her head slightly. She'd at least started it growing, hadn't she? She'd brought the earth around it to life at any rate. Maybe that was all she'd be able to do.

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delicate_power
2010-08-29 11:36 pm UTC (link)

"Only when ingested," Severus said with a slight shrug. "Well, except for the syrup I'll be making it into, but you needn't concern yourself with that. And it normally has a moderate growth rate, but I daresay it isn't as responsive to your encouragement as all the others."

He stood then and continued on to the end, with the rows of three she had previously indicated were. "That last row is belladonna, which is also poisonous when ingested. And the middle one is lovage, which is harmless in anything but huge quantities. I'm afraid, however, that I am entirely unfamiliar with the plants in the first row of the three."

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planted_it
2010-08-29 11:39 pm UTC (link)

Swan tilted her head when he said she needn't concern herself with it. Part of her wanted to exert her non-existent authority and ask him to tell her, but ... what he did with the plants wasn't any of her business, really. She wasn't in charge here. "Okay," she said instead when he informed her of its growth rate.

She nodded as he listed the two plants he did know, noting them mentally for the cards. "Maybe Magius will know," she decided. He'd expressed interest in the plants, and had helped her with the garden. Maybe the plant Severus didn't recognize was one from Magius' world. One the other magic man would recognize.

"Thank you," Swan said promptly. "You're welcome to use anything you need, and if you can spare the seeds back, I'd like them. In case something else happens and we have to start over again."

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delicate_power
2010-08-30 12:09 am UTC (link)

"Perfectly understandable," Severus answered with a nod and a smile to the request for seeds. "I could possibly use some of the ginger -- or at least the roots, and some of the peppermint, as well. Though I won't trouble you for them unless absolutely necessary."

Because those, while occasionally used in potions, were primarily for cooking. Their uses in potion-making were really few and far between. He wouldn't want to deprive anybody of a nice peppermint tea or ginger beer, if they had the craving.

"Thank you, Miss Swan, for allowing me to root about in your garden," he said finally, stepping carefully over the rows and to the edge. It was a terrible joke, certainly, but she might appreciate it, at least.

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planted_it
2010-08-30 12:29 am UTC (link)

Swan chuckled softly at his joke. "Really, it's for everyone. If you need something ... by all means," she encouraged him. She didn't want anyone to go without something simply because they might be leaving it for someone else to use.

As long as she had some seeds to work with, she could replenish anything that was low. She did worry a little about it being flooded, and she knew there'd been mention of protection charms, but there weren't any insects here. Nothing that would get into the garden, anyway. She'd thought she'd heard an ant the day before but decided she'd simply imagined it.

"Do you know ..." she hesitated a little. "A little while back, we had a lot of thunderstorms. A whole week of them. Do you know if there's something, some kind of magic, that could keep the soil from flooding in case they did something like that again?"

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delicate_power
2010-08-30 01:45 am UTC (link)

Well, she chuckled, at least. Perhaps it wasn't as bad a joke as he'd thought. Severus nodded at her encouragement to take whatever he needed. "I shall certainly keep that in mind." But then he hmmed quietly at her question.

"That is an excellent question," he said, frowning slightly as he thought. "There is an Impervius Charm, but if we cast that on the ground, it would make the soil completely waterproof, and the plants would wilt, wouldn't they?" He frowned again, more deeply this time, and then finally gave a slight shrug. "I give it some thought and see what I can come up with. How's that?"

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planted_it
2010-08-30 02:24 am UTC (link)

Swan wondered if they would, but she supposed she shouldn't rely completely on her power to keep them alive. She could keep them alive without water, and maybe there wouldn't even be a flood. But she didn't know if the spells were complicated or not, so she nodded.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Swan shifted to move away then, retreating to where she was making the signs. The more they could get labeled, the better. Then everyone would know what they were looking at, and if they needed it.

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	delicate_power 2010-08-30 04:48 pm UTC (link)
	"My pleasure," Severus answered with a nod and a small smile. "If nothing else, we ought to be able to siphon off the excess water, so that they don't drown." With that, he gave a slight shrug as she moved away, and he started back for the hotel, himself, thinking all the way. (Reply to this) (Parent)