Plants, Plants, Oh Look. More Plants (Felicity)

Walking into the Green Houses hoping to escape the immature students who had decided to not take no for an answer about joining their stupid snow war, Silas breathed a bit easier. No one came out here for fear of being eaten by one of the dangerous plants. Most people didn't even like Herbology and thought it was very boring, pointless, or completely as chore. For the Ravenclaw it was all three. At this particular moment however it saved him from having to be pelted by snow balls or shoved to 'see who could slide the farthest'. Still it was better than last year when a Seventh Year Slytherin had decided to toughen up a couple of First Years and tossed them completely clothed in winter clothing into the freezing waters of the Black Lake.

Lowering his hood, taking off his gloves and sticking them in his cloak pocket, Silas loosed the ties of his cloak. Green houses were rather odd in the teen's mind. The glass kept it warm in the summer and even if it wasn't as warm as it was in the Spring or Summer, it wasn't as cold as it was outside. Walking slowly among the plants, Silas was careful not to get too close in case one was a poisonous, carnivorous, or deadly. Stopping when he saw someone else was there, the teen had half a mind to turn around and beat a hasty retreat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb."

The weather was frigid, but the Hufflepuff couldn’t afford to fall behind in her studies. She’d already been putting off the herbal side of her medicinal inquiries for the last few days while the weather sorted itself out from rain to ice and ice to snow, and now that it was at least less unpleasant, she had no excuse. She simply had to figure out if there were any other plants down in the greenhouses that might be useful in magical medicine that were previously ignored due to their lack of magical properties. She’d already noticed that something as simple as mint could be used to help with sinus issues, but there had to be more extreme examples.

Magical prejudice had been so rampant in her world that she knew they had to have missed some key elements of medicine that were right in front of them. If she could figure them out and include them in the theories she’d been drawing up in the library… Well, Felicity had her sights set rather high for her post-graduate work.

The Hufflepuff stood in the greenhouse sweating slightly due to the extreme difference in temperature compared to the grounds. She’d stripped her heavy cloak and black and yellow scarf near the door, taking her bag and the book she’d borrowed from Harry (he was so very nice like that) along with some parchment and her trusty ink and quill. The thick white sweater she wore, while very comfortable in the colder corridors of the castle, was making her flush with how overheated she had become, and her long hair was messily pinned to the top of her head so that her neck might get some air. Her furry winter boots were trapping all the heat in her feet too, and she felt like some kind of turkey stuffed in a freaking oven.

The girl blew her bangs out of her eyes and started in on another plant that seemed incredibly dull when another person interrupted her thoughts and she looked up at him, noticing the look in his eyes that said he was close to turning on his heel and leaving again.

”Oh, no problem. You aren’t disturbing me at all. You seem oddly familiar for some reason… do I know you from somewhere?” she asked, trying to figure out why she might find the younger boy familiar in any way. He wasn’t from her house, and he was definitely a year or two behind her… so why did she feel like she’d seen that exact facial structure before? ”Oh, I’m so rude! I’m Felicity. Felicity Taylor. And I’d offer my hand but I’m afraid it’s all sweaty. Poor clothing choice, you see.”

She grinned at the boy, hoping this interaction would go over a bit better than the last time she ran into a stranger in the greenhouses. Another round with the dung heap was definitely not on Felicity’s to-do list.

Arching a brow at the girl Silas replied as if she was a bit slow, "We live in the same castle and eat in the same dining room. I'm sure that we've seen each other at least in passing."

It was a good thing the girl hadn't offered her hand since he didn't do handshakes. It was just a rule with him. Something as pointless as a handshake when being introduced was something he did not understand. The teenager knew it had come about to show that you weren't carrying weapons or something way back when. More or less he preferred handshakes being when you made a deal. That was the traditional way to do it. Like the Hufflepuff stated it wasn't as if he wanted to shake someone's sweaty hand.

Quirking a half smile he wondered if she thought not introducing one was rude, then what she would make of a really rude person. "Rude, I've been told is very much my default setting. I'm also a sarcastic git. So now that you're properly informed of my flaws, I'm Silas Lestrange."

Curious about why she wasn't dressed to go out in the weather yet trekking all the way out to a place that would guarantee her to turn blue, he asked, "What are you doing out here? Don't tell me you actually like playing in the dirt."

So far the boy hadn’t seemed overly rude or sarcastic, but perhaps that was just Felicity being naturally kind. His name made her skin prick with goosebumps, though, as she realized why he seemed so familiar. That facial structure. Those eyes. The name. ”Holy hell… we’re related!” she gasped, staring at the boy with very wide eyes. Everything else he said was utterly lost on her as she realized that they were actually cousins. She’d been at the school with family and not known it for years.

”We’re cousins. I mean, that’s how I knew your face,” Felicity said softly, eyes beginning to water at the idea of finding another person should could call family, another connection to her daddy. ”I saw a picture of one of your relatives in this book I was reading when I was looking up the Black family. And then when I made my family tree with a blood spell thing and… well, it’s a long story, but the name ‘Lestrange’ was there.”

Felicity looked down at her hands, which had found purchase in the dirt and were currently sifting it in her fingers. This was the moment to see whether the boy would believe her or not. ”You see, my daddy… My father was Sirius Black.”

"What?" Silas was taken aback at the girl's exclamation then stating that they were cousins. Lovely. Just what he needed. Another bloody cousin to add to the mess. At what looked to be the beginning of waterworks, he took a step away from the girl, apprehension very much clear.

Face going devoid of emotion except an incredulous look, Silas wondered if she'd behave the same way upon meeting Leyton or Draco. Although come to think of it, if she was only looking up Black, then she'd get only Draco, himself, and that one that married a muggle. And she wasn't hurling accusations knowing his mother killed her father.

Cautiously, he kept still as if not wanting her to go off in case he moved. That was rather nice of her, not perpetuateing the blame and hate with the next generation. Something she might want to pass along to Potter and his pals if she hadn't already pounced the wonder boy. He should be thrilled to have connections to the dead man.

"And?" Silas let his confusion show. "You want me to dance a jig, hold your hand, and just be oh so close now?"

The blonde was confused by her relative’s words. He wasn’t excited? Was she that boring? At least he didn’t accuse her of being a liar like most people seemed inclined to do… It was odd, but she almost wanted the boy to start arguing with her about her parentage. Anything to show some sort of interest in her. Right now it just seemed like he didn’t even care at all that she existed, and that… well, it hurt.

”Well, no, I don’t expect some instant bond or something, but…” she peered at him with sadness in her eyes, shaking her head for being stupid. ”Never mind. It’s nothing just… Just forget I even said anything. I’m just some Hufflepuff you never even knew existed before today.”

She looked down at the dirt, willing herself not to cry. Dammit, why did everything hurt so much this year? Felicity felt like she’d never make another real friend no matter how hard she tried and she finally was finding some family since she’d found out who she was related to but it was only turning out to be bad for her. She sighed and pulled at the soil, accidentally tearing the roots of the plant before her. This finally broke the straw and two tears slid down her cheeks.

”I do actually like coming down here and feeling the dirt on my fingers, by the way,” she said thickly, wishing she didn’t feel so choked with salty tears. She glared up at the younger boy and shook her hair away from her face. ”Plants always respond predictably to a kind word and gentle touch. And they always die when you hurt them, like I just did to this poor sprout!” She buried her hands in the dirt, shoulders shaking with the effort of keeping her tears inside. They still managed to spill softly from her lashes, but she ignored them as best she could.

Sometimes Felicity wished she was more like a plant. That she was able to simply wilt and die from all the hurtful ways she’d been treated. It seemed like that would be a much better defense than crying, though she supposed it was the human equivalent of wilting. If this was the case, how long would it be until she simply died?

Brows drawing down puzzlement, Silas corrected with, "Wrong. I knew you, existed in a sense, I just didn't know we were closely related."

She was also older so why would he bother with them? And as she pointed out, a Hufflepuff. It was as if she was forgetting to whom she was speaking with. Silas didn't really care about anyone that much or pay much attention to them personally. Not unless they were of importance and would impact him at all.

Stiffening more when it looked as if she was going to cry, Silas' eyes searched for an exit while trying to find a polite excuse. Looking at the plant she just pulled caused him to eye the emotional girl warily. "I can see that," he replied. "My appologies. I'm not used to...kind words?"

Curiosity warred with caution and his flight or fight reflexes. Tbis Hufflepuff was not something he would expect from someone of the Black line. It explained why she wasn't in the other three houses though. It seemed like she could overlook that her father died by his mother's hand. The only thing she saw was the family connection. Perhaps that nature versus nurture was true. This girl didn't have the Black stain having assumedly been reared away from that.

Just to be sure he let his confusion about her show and with how lost he felt in this conversation. "You do know that my mother was the one that killed your father?"

Felicity felt awkward as the younger boy watched her and seemed to try and wrap his head around her thoughts regarding plants and how to nurture them. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t used to such a reaction. Few people ever understood her way with nature. It was apparently just as odd as the way she thought about muggles and their health professionals. She was odd. Different. People didn’t like different.

She frowned as the boy she now knew to be a cousin spoke again. The words just didn’t make sense at first. His mother? Why was he talking about his mother? Was she that crazy woman everyone was talking about during that mass break out of Azkaban? How could her son possibly be so… not psychotic?

”Wait… your mum… killed my dad?” she asked in awe, still not quite understanding what the boy was telling her. ”Like… she murdered him? His own family killed him? W-why would she d-do that? W-why wouldn’t someone s-stop her?” She knew he died at the Ministry. Felicity knew it had something to do with Harry and You-Know-Who and well… that was pretty much it. Now her cousin was telling her that his mother had done the deed?

Felicity let out a strangled sob, completely overwhelmed with emotion. ”You’ve been surrounded by that… evil, came from it, and yet here you are having a polite conversation with me. Me who could hold your mother’s actions against you. How… how are you s-such a s-strong person?”

Face showing his utter astonishment as well as curiosity, Silas queried, "How do you not know that?" It had been in all of the papers and it wasn't as if thatcould be kept a secret and not gossipped about. She knew she was Sirius' daughter yet not that his family was as twisted and mad as they came? This had to be a phenomenon. One would think after learning about your sire being an infamous murder or framed one, you would still research the rest of your paternal lineage?

When she want on asking how that could be, Silas' look turned to slight amusement with a touch of pity and scorn. Really, no one could be that daft or innocent. Was she without imagination? If she were to survive she had best learn the way really worked and take off those rose colored glasses.

Getting a bit twitchy, eyes darting toward the exit at sobs, the teen stiffened. Bristling at the insult to his mother and his family, his brown eyed gaze went cold and narrowed. The only one allowed to insult his family was him. A sneer came to his face as he replied, "Strength, has nothing to do with it. I had no idea who you were until you told me. That evil, as you said were the ones to teach me proper ettiquete which includes manners. You have a funny deffinition of strength."

As much as he wished to flee this emotional girl, curiosity kept him rooted. That was likely his achilles heel. His damned curiosity. Giving the Hufflepuff a considering look he sighed. "Here's some advice, cousin. You may judge me, but your opinion doesn't matter in the slightest to me. You hold no power of me. You gave me power by informing me we were blood kin. That you care about that connection. And that my opinion matters, which it shouldn't."