Flower Beds

((Before Yule Ball and after the revealing of the list of The Damned))

Eglantine sat in her wheelchair, tending to her roses magically. She could link her mind directly to Excessum, her wand, and extend her magic as far as she needed. The flowers were carefully watered, while others had the soil arranged. A few others were being removed due to bugs that had eaten the roots.

After hearing about his and Juria's being on the List of the Damned, Ethan was to say the least rather shaken. Despite the ancient magic of the ash weave, the wizard couldn't help but still wonder if harm could get through in the form of an unassuming package... though he wasn't exactly the overlord of Defensive magic. That was Sevastyan Kaminski's job...

Of course, if the whole thing with the purgers wasn't enough there was the matter of Laura's mysterious accident and subsequent illness, and her offering to extend his visitation rights. That had been a rather odd conversation. Taking care of the kids was a joy, but it was really hard to keep two ten-year-olds and one eight-year-old occupied just by looking at the pretty flowers. But a walk through the flower garden was just what he needed to clear his head. At the moment, the three children were being watched over by a pair of House-elves that willingly took up the mantle.

Ethan's head-clearing process was interrupted as a House-elf bobbed in front of his path. "Master Addams, sir?" asked the elf.

"Yes, what is it... erm... sorry mate but I've completely forgotten your name..."

"Young Mister Addams is determined to head to the kitchens, sir..."

"Let him go, then. His sisters, too, if they're in the mood for a munchie," Ethan replied distractedly.

"Thank you sir. I will keeps an eye on them, sir..." said the elf before it vanished into thin air.

"As you were..." Ethan mumbled to the elf, so lost in his thoughts he hadn't realized that it had already left.

The wizard's thoughts were once again interrupted upon seeing a familiar-looking wheelchair that contained a familiar-looking witch. And she was doing a task that was all too familiar for him: tending flowers. One would think that, with all the familiarity about, that Ethan would have remembered her name...

'No... not Lentil. There was a g in there... Geranium? No, but it was definitely a flowery name. Lily? No. Petunia? No. Rose? No... Briar? Wrong again... what was her name? Sweetbriar? Hmm... not perhaps the exact name. Ethan really wanted to call her 'Rose' but knew this wasn't quite right. But it was closer than the others he'd thought of so far. Then it hit him like a ton of vine-entangled bricks.

'Eglantine! But... Eglantine - what?! I don't think she'd bloody well like me callin' 'er Professor Eglantine. It started with a D... De lores, not quite; De laney - no! De langdon, wasn't it? No, that doesn't quite sound quite right, either... DeLanquar! That's it! Ethan couldn't help but grin a small grin of victory.

"Good day, Professor DeLanquar!" Ethan beamed cheerfully. "I had no idear you liked to garden..." he offered by way of making conversation.

Eglantine was aware of Professor Addams' entry into the gardens via her link with Excessum. But she choose to remain silent until he addressed her. Without turning, she nodded, wandlessly tossing another dying rose into a basket by the edge of the walk.

"Good day to you as well, Professor Addams." she murmured. "Yes, I do enjoy flower gardening. Lavender being my favourite of the flowers." she gestured toward the perfectly arranged bed. Obviously a great deal of time and effort had been taken in the care of the lavender.

"How are you?" she asked, looking over at him.

"That's simply lovely," Ethan replied jovially, taking note of the marvelously well-tended bed of lavender. It was great to see that another co-worker of his also enjoyed plants. "You have done a marvelous job with the lavender, I must say!" he remarked with cheerful honesty.

When she asked how he was, Ethan blinked as he realized that was a much better conversation-starter, and often one of the social niceties. "Oh, Great Merlin - I should've asked you that the moment I first arrived! My apologies!

"I am... as well as can be expected, I suppose, but yet at the same time couldn't be happier if that makes any sense at all. And yourself?" he replied and approached, halting when he was but a few feet away from the basket she was tossing the dying roses into.

Eglantine blushed slightly, turning back to the roses. Levitating from her wheelchair, she lowered herself beside the bed and moved trembling fingers to move a dying leaf.

"It is quite alright." she stated, when Ethan apologized. "And I am...fine." there was a note of disbelief in her words as if she hardly believed them herself. "You look forward to the Yule ball?" she asked, looking up at him.

Ethan noted there was something slightly off about the tone of her response. However, at her question, the wizard couldn't help but perk up a little from the worries about the List of the Damned. Just because they were apparently safe here, didn't mean that he could just stop worrying at the drop of a hat...

"Yes... yes, I am looking forward to it. Should be fun, and provide a rather nice distraction from... certain darker events that have cropped up lately," he replied with mild cheer.

"Though... I'm not sure what to do with me sprouts. How good of a babysitter do House-Elves make, do you reckon?" Ethan asked, though belatedly realized that the Professor might not have had children.

"Yes it should." Eglantine replied, nodding her head. She sighed and released the link to Excessum, her body shuddering from the exertion. Hoping Professor Addams had not noticed she turned her attention to him.

"House elves are lovely baby sitters for younger children. But I have no experience to see how they are with older children. I plan to take my son to the ball, but have him only stay of an hour or so. My cousin sent a lovely outfit for him." she smiled as she remembered how adorable Edwin looks in his new apparel.

Ethan noticed what appeared to be a shiver overwhelm the other professor. Perhaps she was cold? It was December out, after all, even though the gardens were charmed into a permanent spring-summer-y atmosphere. "Are you quite all right, Professor? That looked like a nasty chill..." he inquired, oblivious to what was really the problem. After all, he was practically one of the newest 'recruits' added to the staff.

The wizard nodded as he listened. "That's nice... how old is your son? If you don't mind my asking? I have a son and two daughters, ages eight and ten," Ethan asked curiously, smiling unconsciously in response to the other professor's countenance. [Said outfit must be adorable... for a smile like that,' Ethan mused to himself.

Eglantine smiled briefly, pulling her shawl around her arms. "Yes, I am fine. Bit chilly nothing more." she replied, thankful he hadn't read between the lines so to speak. Horatio would have already asked if she wanted to kill herself with Excessum and would have left the room, or path as the case may be.

"Three years." Eglantine responded. "There is no doubt about that..." she added. Nodding when Ethan mentioned his children's ages, she cocked her head to the side in her feline fashion. "Professor McKevin's nephew's son is eight years old, I believe. The boy is in the castle now. Perhaps your son would enjoy the company of a boy his age?"

Ethan took her words and actions on the chill at face value. After all, even he was slightly chilly. He had no reason to suspect something else was going on.

"Ah... three. I remember when the twins were that age," Ethan couldn't help but sigh of reminiscence. His daughters were simply adorable little things at that age. The only child he came across that would fit that age would be... Edwin, whom he'd met in the Great Hall during the champion Naming Ceremony for the tournament.

Blond brows quirked upward upon hearing that a relation to one of the professors' relations had a son around Valerio's age, if not precisely so. "Would he ever! The lad has always talked of wanting a younger brother. I'll have to give Valerio a tour of the castle at some point... if he isn't already on one. The house-elf I asked to keep an eye on him's practically just told me he went down to the kitchens for a snack," Ethan explained, a small laugh punctuating his words.

Eglantine nodded, her fingers gently rubbed the armrest of her wheelchair as she urged it forward. "Then I'm sure the two of them will get along very well." she leaned over to pick up the basket, but pain stabbed up her back from her hip and she bit her lip. Deciding it wasn't worth killing herself over, she straightened, leaving the basket.

Noticing the Professor reach for the basket and then think better of it, Ethan knelt to retrieve it with a quickly-uttered, "Please, allow me..." Picking up a stray leaf and stem that had fallen out and replacing it in the basket, Ethan handed said basket to the Professor.

"Do you do anything in particular with the fallen roses, professor?" he asked, genuinely curious. "Compost? ... Dried greenery decor? ... Attar of Roses?" Ethan went on, ticking the possibilities on his fingers.

Eglantine sighed. "Thank you very much, Professor." she muttered, settling the basket on her lap.

"Yes, compost mainly. But I send a few to my cousin, Lachesis Malfoy. She does a great of things with them."