Odette had stumbled on the gardens when she was searching for somewhere to sit by herself. An empty hallway, a classroom, anything. The gloomy and dank common room scared her to no end, and she only returned when it was lights out.

Settling herself near the water, and dipped her feet in. Odette sighed, as she was beyond relaxed and happy. The flowers were a comforting sense of home, as her mother had decorated the whole house with many different flowers.

Hearing someone walking toward her, however, snapped Odette out of her trance. She was now tense, waiting to see who it could be.

The Secret Gardens was one of Humphrey's favorite places to come. It was quiet, practically nobody ever came here. Plus, he loved flowers, and had grown up helping his mom and aunt with the gardening.

Walking around a bit, he came across somebody else. She was sitting down, with her feet in the water, and tensed up when she heard somebody else there. Must be a first year, he figured, since he'd never met her before. "Hello, I'm Humphrey Williams. You must be new here, I don't think I've seen you before? Do you like flowers?" Humphrey asked her.

Odette had to take a break. That many questions without a breath? Please. Blinking slowly, she got up from where she was sitting. "Hi!" Odette tried to sound friendly, but she sounded like she was slowly dying. Trying to cover that, she smiled cheerfully. "I'm Odette Cambry. Yes, I'm new. That easy to tell, huh?" She laid down on her stomach, face near the water. Absentmindedly, Odette stuck her index finger in the pool, watching the ripples that she made. She sighed, noticed little darts swimming about, and she safely assumed they were fish.

"I do like flowers. That's why I'm here." In her hair was a flower crown she made. It was bright colored flowers that were closest to her. It clashed with her hair, making her blonde hair blonder.

The girl stood up, she was pretty tall, and had long blonde hair. Her voice sounded weird when she greeted him, but then as she talked it wasn't quite as odd. "Well, I figured since I hadn't seen you before you must be. This is my second year here." Humphrey explained. Oddly, the girl laid on her stomach, and started poking her finger in the water to watch the ripples. He shrugged, and laid down next to her. There were some fish darting around in the water.

"I love flowers too, grew up gardening with my mom and then my aunt. My favorite are the Morning Glories. I love your flower crown there, very stylish." Humphrey said. It clashed a bit, but he still thought it looked cool.

"Oh." Odette replied serenely. She watched as the boy joined her, lying down next to her. "Hogwarts doesn't seem half bad." Odette tried to start a conversation, moving her hand back and forth underwater.

"My mum loved all types of flowers. They were all over my house." Odette pondered on Humphrey's story. He seemed like a sweet guy. Most men wouldn't admit that they gardened. She felt a little respect toward him. "I love really bright flowers. Like sunflowers." She laughed, a light blush setting on her face. "Thank you. They aren't sunflowers, but these will do."

"Hogwarts is pretty great actually. First time I've felt like I had a home since I was little. Ever since I moved from Ohio in the United States to Edinburgh, Scotland. Well, I've never felt at home. Here though, within the first week it felt like home, love this place." Humphrey told her. He started moving his hand back and forth in the water as well, watching the ripples appear.

"My mom did too, we always had a couple vases with some from her garden." Humphrey stated, smiling at the memory. "I like bright flowers too, sunflowers are nice. I'd have to say that roses are probably my favorite after morning glories." Odette blushed a bit, her flower crown was really nice. "Yea, they are pretty. What do you think, should I make a flower necklace for myself?" he asked.

Odette nodded, happy that she wasn't one of the only children who had moved from the states back to the uk. "That's good to hear. I almost owled my parents begging them to take me to beauxbatons. That's where they went for school, and where they met." Odette sighed. "Hogwarts is home to unfriendly people. Well, that's what you get when you're sorted into slytherin I suppose. I don't know how they sort things out." She turned to Humphrey. "What house are you in?"

Odette crinkled her nose and laughed. "I absolutely hate roses. I think they're too cliche. If someone gave me a handful of tulips or sunflowers, I would adore them." Of course, that would never happen to her. But Odette was a big dreamer with an equally as big of a heart. Sunflowers and tulips were what surrounded Odette at a young age. Laughing again, she shrugged. "Go ahead!"

"Well yea, there are some unfriendly people. The majority I've met though are nice." he said, trying to cheer her up. "Not all Slytherins are mean, try talking to Olivia, or Carey Matthews. Both of them are pretty nice. I'm in Ravenclaw, with all the bookworms." Humphrey told her, smiling. This girl was going to be fun to hang out with.

A girl who hated roses, it made him laugh. "I suppose they are, but different colors mean different things. My favorite are yellow ones, they stand for friendship. Tulips and sunflowers are great though, I like almost every flower really. Have you ever heard of the bleeding heart plant? Those are really amazing, love those."

"Okay." He got up and started gathering different flowers; he got some daisies, tulips, scarlet pimpernel, calla lilies, oleander, and lantana. Then, wove the different flowers into a necklace, which he then hung around his neck. Humphrey came back and showed Odette, "What do you think?" Humphrey asked.

"I have met Olivia. She's a peach, I adore her. I did almost murder her. I tripped over her at the lake. Didn't see her." Odette laughed. "Ravenclaw huh? I do probably belong there. All I do is read." Because I can't sleep. Was what Odette was thinking, but didn't say. Ah, oh well. Odette was being friendly.

"I do know what the roses mean. I just think they're stupid! You see them everywhere. How many times do you see someone giving another person sunflowers? 'Cause I don't see that ever." Odette would want to be that person getting those. "I've never heard of that before! What does it look like?"

Odette watched as Humphrey gathered flowers with a large smile on her face. When he was done with it, she laughed. "It's gorgeous of course!"

"Yea, Olivia is the best. She is my girlfriend, believe it or not. Still not sure what she sees in me, but it's pretty cool." Humphrey told her. "That's an interesting way to meet somebody. Ravenclaw is pretty good, but Slytherin can use some more nice people." he said, trying to make her see the bright side. "Maybe you can convince some of the other people in Slytherin to be nice too."

"You see red roses everywhere, not always the other coolers. It is a good point though, you don't see people giving each other sunflowers. Definitely a more unique thing to do." Humphrey agreed. "The bleeding heart looks like a pink heart, but there is a bloom thing on the end, that makes it look like it's bleeding. They are really cool."

"Really, cool! We should wear this around Hogwarts, you got your crown I got this. See how people react, I bet it would be funny." Humphrey stated, laughing a bit at the idea.

"Really? Good for you! She seems lovely." Odette was honestly happy for him and Olivia. They both seemed to be nice in a not sickening way. "I will try to make an intervention. Maybe they'll see there's more to life than blood status." Odette, being a half blood, was an obvious target to harassment.

"That does sound pretty, I'm not going to lie." Odette found herself playing in the water again, looking at the fish that were surrounding her hand. They were little blue fish, and they made Odette laugh at how confused they were with her hand there.

"I think it would turn some heads, but that would be worth it." Odette laughed slightly, as she was used to getting stared at oddly.

"Uh huh, and she is!" Humphrey told her, smiling widely. They needed to find a nice guy for Odette sometime. "Good luck with that, you are going to need it." Most Slytherins he knew were pretty set in their ways.

Odette admitted that it did sound like a pretty flower. "It really is, kind of sad though." he said. She was playing in the water, and there were blue fish swimming around it getting all confused. "Those fish are going to get dizzy if you keep that up." Humphrey commented.

"Sure would, and definitely going to make us be viewed as weird. But I think that us weird people have more fun thant he normal ones." Humphrey confided in her, winking.

"I love this place, don't you? It's just so...peaceful, if you know what I mean. Other places are all loud, or busy, but here you can just relax. Enjoy the moment, you know?"

"I can be pretty convincing." Odette replied, not paying attention. She let her hand relax, and the fish came to settle in her palm. Smiling at them, she took her hand out of the water, and watched them swim away.

"Ah, I think they liked it. They didn't seem scared. More of a game to them." Odette said, wiping the water off in the patch of grass near her. She continued looking in the water, though nothing was really catching her eye.

"Normal is so overused. What is considered normal anymore?" It was one of those things that Odette felt like no one could answer, even if they tried. It was just one of those things.

"Yeah, this place does seem nice. I just only found it. So that's why I'm still here."

"I'm sure you can be. Probably better than I am at it, most girls I know are. Persuasion is just not one of my strong suits." He wondered why, but he really had no idea. The fish swam awa after she took her hand out.

Humphrey thought about it, and found she was probably right. Hmm, now I think about it you are right. They didn't look very scared at all." he agreed. Now that the fish had left, there wasn't much in the water that was interesting.

"It definitely is overused. Hard to say, all I know is most people think I'm weird. The definition of "normal"," Humphrey said, putting air quotes around it, "probably changes depending on who you ask. Glad I don't care whether I'm normal or not." he mused, leaning back in the grass. Felt good to stretch out a little bit.

"I found it last year. Come here a bit since then, but not often enough. Remind me to show you this clearing sometime, it's on the grounds. Nobody ever goes there, well almost nobody." Humphrey amended.

"It isn't many people's strong suits. It just happens to be mine, for whatever unknown reason." Odette picked some daisies close to her, and began placing them in the water, watching them float lazily on it's surface.

"You seem nice enough to me. Though, I have only just met you. But that's what I'll tell anyone if they ask. You're nice, not weird." She grabbed another handful of daisies, and floated the others at random, to make more room for the new ones.

"I'll keep it in mind. The clearing, you said?" Odette, feeling rather stiff, stretched her arms over head. Glancing at her watch, she noticed there was still plenty of time before dinner even started. Sighing, she laid back down at the waters edge, feeling slightly cooped up.

"Ha ha, well maybe it is because you are good with words. Possibly a charismatic person?" Humphrey asked her. He watched as she picked up daisies and placed them in the water. She liked doing small stuff like that, he'd noticed Odette was always doing a little thing similar to that.

"Thanks, glad I seem nice. Hopefully this isn't just an incorrect first impression. Sometimes people seem nice, but then they aren't. That's good, being known as nice is a good thing. You seem really nice too by the way. I will tell people you are nice if they ask as well. Might have to mention the awesome red hair as well." Humphrey told her. He really did like her hair, it stood out, and he thought it suited her well.

"Yea, the clearing, it is on the grounds. I'll take you there sometime, I like to work on my novel there. Nice and quiet, a good place to think. Ironing out plots requires lots of mental focus." Odette stretched out a bit, and then laid back down. "Stiff?"

"Ah, maybe. I wouldn't say I am though. More of a person with too many things to say and no one to speak them to. So, I write." Maybe Odette was a charismatic person, she didn't know. No one had said she was before.

Odette laughed. "Well, I do stick out." She teased him by flipping her hair behind her shoulders, adjusting her flower crown. "It's better to be nice. We need more friendly people in the world." Life just got along much more calmly when there weren't power hungry morons in the way.

"I know the feeling." Odette always drank a cup of tea before writing, and went somewhere quiet. The quietest place she could go so far at hogwarts was the library. Though, whenever she wrote in the owldry, she noticed the hooting of owls helped calm her nerves.

"A little." Odette admitted with a laugh.

"Alright, fair enough. I like to write too, putting pen, or quill to paper or parchment is a great feeling. Something so calming and freeing about it, writing down your thoughts. I love to write, actually working on a novel." Humphrey stated. Writing was his favorite thing to do aside from painting.

"I must admit that you do." Humphrey agreed, laughing with her. "Ha ha, nice hair flip. It definitely is better to be nice, so many people aren't. If everybody was nice, there would be a lot less problems." He hated when people bullied each other, or put each other down to get ahead.

"Yea. Can definitely give you a good headache." he commented. At times he wrote in the library, but most of the time he liked to write outside somewhere. Not really sure why, but he loved writing outdoors.

"Stretching always helps. I get stiff after I run sometimes. What I like to do is spend about ten minutes stretching out, then take a hot shower." It generally did a pretty good job loosening him up.

"The only problems that I have with the human race are the amount of women and the rudeness there is." Odette literally despised girls her own age. Well, for now. Maybe in the future she will change. Though, she would admit, that she seemed to get along with Olivia rather well.

"Oh, a run sounds lovely." She sighed, looking at the water longingly. "Or a swim..." Odette pursed her lips, wondering if a dive in this small pond was worth it. Of course, it was. Odette threw off her crown, and jumped in. Hitting the bottom, she pushed herself upward, hitting the air and gasping. Pushing her hair back, she floated, looking at Humphrey. "Cmon, you know you want to."

"Wow, didn't expect that. Most girls your age like other girls more than guys, but everybody's different. Have to agree with you about the amount of rudeness, it really is terrible." Humphrey didn't really have a problem with girls or guys his age, he tried to get along with everybody.

"Yea, I like to run. It always helps me clear my head, not sure why." Humphrey told her, shrugging. Surprisingly, Odette, out of nowhere, jumped into the small pond. He started laughing a bit, and then she asked him to join her. "Umm, sure, why not?" Humphrey dove in after her, cannon-ball style.

Odette laughed when Humphrey jumped in. Hiding her face in her hands to not get hit by the water, she paddled around. "Wasn't that fun?" She rested her head on her hands on the edge. "I'm glad you did it!" Odette shrieked, hugging him tightly.

Odette paddled around a bit after he got in. He paddled a bit with her, laughing. "This was a great idea, definitely fun." Humphrey joined her at the edge of the pond, and then was attacked with a hug. Caught off guard, his reflex had him hugging her back, which was good. "Glad I did too."

"So, I can say that we are past the awkward meeting stage." Odette sighed, closing her eyes. Something was tickling her foot, and she looked down, confused. Of course, it was the fish. Laughing, she took a deep breath and went back down under the water. Opening her eyes, she looked at the fish more closely. Laughing, she rose back. "So, Humphrey, will you be my friend?" Odette asked sarcastically, sticking out her hand to seal the deal.

"Hmm, I guess you can say that. Now we are just two awkward people hanging out, right." Humphrey told her, laughing a bit. Odette started laughing, and dove underwater. He suspected a fish may have been tickling her. "Yea, of course I will, I thought we already were. I'd be honored to be your friend, Odette." Humphrey agreed, and shook her hand. "But friends hug around here." Then he gave her a big bear hug.

Odette laughed, feeling lighter. "Right. But, I'm not the awkward one!" She raised a brow with amusement. "Well, now it's official! Humphrey's my friend!" Odette screamed at the top of her lungs. Shocked that he hugged her, she hugged him back.