Greenhouse Whispers || Padma and Ernie
@mosternestmacmillan
Even in the chilly, bleak January weather, Greenhouse Three was warm and humid thanks to the many panes of charmed glass and heating spells. Padma knew that those carefully maintained magicks were kept there for the health of the plants rather than the comfort of the students, but she couldn’t help sighing with relief as the warmth as she settled back on her tall wooden stool and let the heat seep into her veins. The walk down from the school always left her feeling frigid, no matter how many layers she added to her heavy cloak and long black robes. Her mother liked to tease that it was genetic, that Patils simply weren’t adapted for the Scottish weather the way the Macmillans were -- and ordinarily Padma rolled her eyes at her mum and pulled on a thicker pair of woolly socks, but today she caught herself eyeing the distant cousin who shared her mother’s maiden name.
Ernie was bent dutifully over his assigned tray of plants. If he was still shaking off the cold from outside, he gave no sign of it, but then Hufflepuffs were known for being dedicated workers -- especially in Herbology. Padma glanced around, spotting Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot -- the other Ravenclaws in the D.A. -- crowded around a tray of their own. She wondered if any of them had managed to pass the word along to the Hufflepuffs in class yet; she wondered if any of them had thought to try. Maybe they’d already heard by now, Ernie and Hannah -- but maybe they hadn’t. If they didn’t know, someone had to tell them...and apparently, that someone would have to be Padma.
Stifling a sigh, she picked up her pruning shears and moved to join the tray of plants where Ernie was working. Padma waited until she was sure that Professor Sprout’s attention -- and that of the students on either side of them -- was elsewhere before she leaned over to Ernie and whispered, “Lightning has struck.”
She felt like an idiot, using a stupid code phrase like that -- but that’s what the D.A. had agreed on, back in an early meeting toward the beginning of last term, when they had discussed the likelihood of Harry Potter returning to Hogwarts. Padma had agreed at the time that it seemed more prudent than going around saying the name of Undesirable Number One aloud (easy way to attract unwelcome attention, that!) but now that she actually had to say the phrase they had agreed upon all those months ago, she couldn’t help dwelling on how dumb it sounded. Still, what was she supposed to do? Say nothing, and hope that Ernie had heard the news from someone else?
Padma sighed. It was times like this that she cursed whatever innate sense of responsibility she possessed that had led Professor Flitwick to make her a prefect.
