Parker took a deep breath as he walked out of the castle and onto the grounds. It was midday and the weather seemed decent, so he was foregoing his large over coat. He slowly let out his breath as he found he was making his way to the greenhouses which had often been a place of comfort to him at the time before he decided his childhood was dead. As healer he figured he'd need to get to know the professor, and he hoped desperately it wasn't going to be another friend of his from school. Like Haley. It was hard enough with the others.

He sighed, as he approached the outdoor plots beside the greenhouses, and he knelt down, running his thumb over a pedal of one of the winter flowers. He smiled remembering the old collections he kept of strange little rocks and of pressed flowers from all around the grounds. He only had one flower left from his collections though. The rest he'd gotten rid of, dumped them out somewhere in the forest when upset during his seventh year. Still knelt down, he moved his hand away from the flower and looked over the other plants in the plot. His mind was back to thinking of the past, and he'd not heard the footsteps from behind him.

Clara was checking up on the baby nightshade mutations, some of them had developed a small case of leaf mould, and the frosts this year weren't doing the rest of the greenhouses any good. She was just shutting and locking the door into the 'Infirmary' when Clara heard the main door open and someone walk in.

She moved out into the open-roofed house, then continued back to the main house. She brushed past the Venus Fly-traps and the baby mandrakes, when finally she saw someone kneeling on the ground inspecting some of her personal winter flowers.

Knealing down beside the man, Clara picked up one of the bluebird blossoms. "They're pretty, huh?" She said, a smile on her face as she stroked the outside of the closed bloom. The moment her finger left the blue flower's petals, it opened and started chirping, almost like a blue bird.

Parker looked over, slightly startled as a woman knelt beside him. He'd not heard her, but he figured she must be the Herbology professor. Not someone he recognized... He swallowed and nodded, looking back down the the winter flower. "Uh, yeah...yeah, they are," he said quietly. The place really looked like it was being kept up well, compared to what he remembered it being back at school.

He glanced over when she reached over to a blue flower, one of his favorites, the one flower he still had left of his old collection. His eyebrows rose slightly when the closed bloom opened and chirped. While he thought the flower was beautiful, he never saw it do that, perhaps because he picked it before it could. He smiled at the realization he still knew so little. "Wow..." he breathed out.

He also realized that he never knew the name of the flower. While he appreciated them, he never was bothered to actually look them up, along with any others of his old collections. "What're those ones called?" he asked pointing at the flower, a small smile still on his face.

Clara smiled at him. "Never seen them open before?" she asked when his eyebrows rose. "Beautiful flowers, they are. Always been my favourite," she added.

"Bluebird Blossoms is the common name, and the one I refer to them most as. It suits them better, I guess. They're very sociable plants, too, and sometimes I wonder if they can feel emotion," she told him, a smile lingering on her face as well. "Here, take it." She passed him the pot she'd been holding and the single little blossom turned towards the man, like it was looking at him.

"I'm Clara O'Keefe," she added, standing up and extending a hand. "I teach Herbology and Charms here. I suppose you also work here, um...?"

Parker shook his head slightly when she asked if he'd never seen them open before and nodded slightly when she said they were her favorite. "Yeah, mine too, actually. The colour of them..."

He smiled a little, "Bluebird Blossom? That's nice.." He let out a small laugh when she said she wondered if they felt emotion. "Aw, Now that's making me feel back for all the times I've picked them when I was younger-" but he stopped and looked at her when she handed him the pot. He then looked at the flower as it seemed to turn to him. "Huh? Take it?" She surely couldn't mean for him to keep it.

"Oh-" he shifted the small pot to his other hand and held his hand out to her. "Parker Emery, yes, I'm going to be the school's Healer." He smiled, "I supposed it's good we've met then. We might be seeing a lot of each other."

Clara smiled and nodded. She liked the colour of them too, it was really quite mesmerising.

She giggled at him when he mentioned that he used to pick them as a child, but she didn't mind. These flowers weren't particularly rare, but if it had been something like, say, a Percy Plucker, then she would get mad.

Her grin grew even wider when he seemed to think she was joking about letting him have it. "Of course! You obviously like them, and they're very little care. Take it!"

Clara shook his hand. "A pleasure to meet you Parker," she replied, nodding. "I do suppose so! If there's anything you need, just come find me and I'll be happy to sort you out."

He saw her grin wider when he asked about actually keeping it. "Oh- really? Thank you, " He grinned back, looking down at the plant which was still moving around as if it were looking. "I would like something low maintenance." he mused, more to himself then her.

Though looking at it, he knew just who he'd give it to, the one he was going to give the pressed flower to back when he was younger, but never did. He thought she'd really like it. The colour of them always made him think of her eyes.

He shook his head from his thoughts and smiled back at her again, standing up as his knee was getting sore. "Pleasure to meet you too." he nodded back, holding the pot in both his hands. "Of course, thank you. I often brew my own potions if I need, So I'll be coming by here and the potion's stores often enough." he said, lightly tapping his fingers against the side of the pot.

"All you gotta do is water it once or twice a week and leave it where it can see the sun," she explained, smiling.

He seemed a bit off with the fairies for a moment there, but Clara decided not to disturb him.

"Ah! You're welcome. I hope to see you around again," Clara said, glad she'd met another potential friend.

There was ruckus out the back, and Clara immediately whipped around. It sounded like something had smashed. She grimaced and thought resentfully about how she shouldn't have had the Sun Tree and Devil's Snare in the same greenhouse. "That'd be them.... two opposite plants fighting again. This always happens!" Clara sighed and set off diligently towards the back of greenhouse 3, where she'd put the mis-matching plants, not even thinking about Parker.

Parker perked up when he heard a crashing sound out in the back. She whipped around and the figured it might be something serious because of her grimace. He looked at her when she muttered something about two opposite plants getting at it again and he wondered what it could be. It seemed barely a second later before she had rushed off to where ever the noise was from and Parker was just standing there.

He blinked, and looked down at the plant in his hands, before looking back over to the door she'd rushed out of. He then started walking after her and called after her "Oh, uuh....Clara? Do you need help with something?"

He looked around the other greenhouse, having lost her. He looked a bit like a lost child in a store with the way he was looking around. He found her shortly in the back of the third greenhouse and he set the pot down on a nearby shelf as he approached, seeing the fighting plants. "Oh, wow, need any help?" he asked.

Clara pulled out her wand after a brief struggle with a Devil's Snare tendril that had entangled her ankle. She heard Parker call from the other room and mentally slapped herself for leaving him in such a rush like that.

It wasn't long before he was at the door and asking her if she needed help. Without looking at him, she fired a stunning spell at the Sun tree. "I may just," Clara said, glancing down as the Devil's Snare started to creep towards her guest.

"Dammit, look out! Incendio!" she cried and hit the plant with a fire spell, making it wail in agony. Clara felt minutely bad for it, but then wanted to live too so she wiped that from her mind.

Parker raised his eyebrows seeing just how violent the two plants were getting and he whipped his wand out right way. "Shoot, a mistake in placing them I'm guessing?"

He watched as she shot incendio at the tendril coming towards him, as another took her ankle. As the devil's snare kept trying to reach toward Clara, Parker pointed his wand near the base of the devil's snare and a half circle of blue flame rose between her and the snare, causing it to release her and coil back immediately. The blue flame continued on the ground and at the tip of his wand still aimed as he walked forward. "Which would be better to move you think?" He asked, letting out a breath.

He looked past the unburning flames which kept back the snare, remember a time at the ER when a group of kids had gotten in a tangle with some Devil's snare, no pun intended, with the tendrils so tightly wrapped around them that even cut off they had not come loose. Not a pretty sight, he had to admit.

"Just a bit!" She called as the snare knocked over more spare pots, causing a ruckus you could barely hear yourself think over.

Clara breathed a sigh of relief when Parker's quick thinking kept the Snare at bay. She took a second to process what environment the snare and tree need, and then turned to Parker. She motioned to the tree, which seemed to be shaking and ... hiding? in a corner. "Let's move that one," she called, pointing her wand at the blue flame enveloping the Devil's Snare, casting a permanence charm over it.

"You can let go of your spell now," she told Parker. "Come on, let's get this one out of here."

Still holding the spell he looked over to the cowering sun tree off in the corner that she motioned over to to move. "Okay, got it," he said, nodding as she then set the spell. He looked at her and smiled a bit. "Thanks."

He lowered his wand, though it was still clutched in his hand, and walked over to the other side of her, closer to the sun tree. "Does this thing swing its branches or anything like that?" he asked, glancing over to her.

If it wasn't too dangerous to get in close range, he figured it'd be easier to just pick it up by the pot and move it rather then by trying to be very careful moving it magically.

Clara laughed. "No, but it's very hot when it's agitated, and I suggest we don't touch it." She'd received numerous burns from the plant, and since she didn't know they were there, she didn't realise she was being burnt, therefore had learnt the hard way. "Of course, I wouldn't be able to feel it, but for your sake I say we don't pick it up."

She closed into the plant and tried to tempt it out. "Lumos," she whispered, her wand tip flaring. "Oh, I forgot to mention. It has a strong attraction to light and that's the easier way to move it out." Clara motioned to the pathway on the other side of the room, away from the Snare, that lead to the courtyard. "I've been meaning to plant it out there anyway, just didn't have time."

Parker nodded and raised his eyebrows, making an 'oops' face at the very bad mistake he almost made. "Oh wow, yeah, that'd be bad. Guess I still need to learn my way 'round the greenhouses better." he mused to himself.

He glanced over at the flame concealed snare as Clara aimed her wand at the tree. He looked at her again as she said Lumos. "Oh- yeah, I should have figured something like that." he said, running his hand through his hair. "Well, I guess now's the time then?" He said with a small smile as the tree begun to be lured out.

He stood beside her and sighed, "Well that was...interesting. Stuff like this happen often?"

Clara nodded with a small smile at Parker. "Yeah, it is, come on. He's nearly out!" She walked slowly backwards, towards the courtyard path. Clara finally got it out and, seeing as it was a sunny day, the plant stayed in the brightest patch of light that it could.

She scratched the back of her neck. "Thanks, and no. It doesn't really happen all to often... it's a riot when it does, though!" She grinned.

Parker walked on the other side of the tree, careful not to get too close as she walked out backwards, leading it out. As they walked through the door he gave a final glance back at the devil's snare before turning back to her. Parker smiled and sighed as it stopped moving. "I guess it's happy there."

He looked at Clara and laughed a little, "Yeah, I bet. Some of the plants you have are very interesting too, at least from what I saw. I just hope the kids are less of a riot he said with a smile.

Clara laughed at him. "Luckily enough, they won't be in this greenhouse for years to come, those new ones! Only my seventh-grade NEWT Extension class come in here."

Glancing up at the sky, Clara noted it was starting to get darker now, and the sun was setting. "We should go back up to the castle. It's getting late. Oh - before I forget, did you come here for any particular reason, like a plant or herb or ingredient or something?"

"Well that's good. Seems like the seventh year's have a lot to look forward too. I remember I always had fun in Herbology, but I wasn't exactly the best at it." He said with a shrug. "Unfortunately never saw any two plants fighting."

At Clara saying that they should get back to the castle, Parker nodded in agreement. She then asked if he had come for any specific reason. "Oh, no, actually. I didn't. Just looking around this time, but if I ever need anything I'll be sure to let you know." He said, smiling a little.

Clara smiled softly. "Well now you have, isn't that fun?" She laughed and shook her head.

"Cool. Come on then, we best head back up," and she set off towards the big castle.