July 8th, 1888 - The Florist Potts
Billie Farrow

This looming fog really was starting to get a little annoying. Of course it hadn't really impacted her daily life, aside from not having magic available to her, but it was getting gloomy. Not to mention without enough sunshine greenhouse wasn't exactly working like it should. Daff could already feel a difference in the temperature in there. If this lasted too much longer it was going to start causing some serious damage in there.

On her way back from a delivery, Daff noticed a familiar little figure hanging around the front window. "Young Master Farrow, how are you this afternoon?" She greeted him with a dreamy smile, swinging the basket in her hands idly. "Keeping busy these days?" Her mum had use Billie in the past take care of some critters in the greenhouse itself here and there, but honestly Daff had been at school so she hadn't exactly gotten to know him very well.

Swaying as if there was music, though that was really just her daydreaming motion, Daff wondered if her mother was even around right now. It would't be too out of the ordinary for there to be rats to catch or an errand to run that Billie would be useful for if she really thought about it.

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Billie had taken to skulking about High Street and the surrounding areas during the daylight hours to try and scrounge up any sort of work she could find. The fog, although inconvenient and worrying, had brought about more job possibilities than ever before. The toads and locusts had allowed her to demonstrate her rat catching talents, and there were quite a few less adventurous sorts who had taken to using her as a messenger or to run errands to avoid venturing outside. In a way, she was thankful for the fog, but she wouldn't ever share that opinion with anyone.

The Florist Potts was a stop on her usual rounds, and it was there that she loitered, quietly re-rolling the bottoms of her much too large trousers. When Daffodil called out, she quickly clambered back to her feet and inclined her head in greeting. "Oh, hello, Miss Potts," she replied, flashing a friendly smile, actually remembering her manners for once. Then again, she called all of the Potts females 'Miss Potts' just to be safe.

"'M good. How are ya?" She asked before bobbing her head once, sending the hair that didn't sit crammed under her cap straight into her eyes. "Yeah, real busy. Sure a lot to do with all....this." Billie gestured at the fog with a scrunch of her nose. The ragamuffin then quickly added with a crooked, semi-toothless grin. "But I ain't so busy that I can't help ya here!"

With that, Billie stood up as straight as she could, nearly wobbling on her tiptoes. For some reason, she thought making herself taller would convince people that she was useful, even if it only added maybe an inch or two of height.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Daff didn't doubt there was quite a bit for Billie to do in a situation like this. Without magic at their disposal, little errands and the like became actual tasks that took time. Hiring out a little industrious lad like Billie certainly helped a few people!

"Not sure what I can have you do, but come on in." She smiled dreamily, trying to think of something she could have him do. "I'm sure we can find something." With a swish of her skirts, Daff swept into the store itself and waited for Billie to join her. Setting the basket down on the counter, she looked around to see if there was a to-do list around anywhere. They left them around once in a while when there was a lot of turnover between them and their jobs.

"Weeding, watering, always weeding and watering. There's a delivery to make, but it's a long one, won't make you take that." No Daff could do that herself in a little while. "The chomping cabbage needs a prune, not sure anyone really wants to do that, but it does take two people." She chuckled. One person needed to distract while the other snipped the dead leaves away. "Hmm, doesn't say anything about pest control, but we could always take a look in the back. I feel like the rodents are getting cheeky in this current situation." More coverage meant more places to hide after all!

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Billie beamed at the prospect of Daff having something she could do. With a satisfied nod, she swiped a sleeve at her ever running nose and shuffled inside after the older girl. She glanced around at the shop, always interested about the strange sorts of plants she only started to glimpse since she ended up in Hogsmeade.

While Daffodil read off the list, the ragamuffin listened attentively, making a small tally in her head about which tasks she thought she might be best at. However, when a strange plant was mentioned, she canted her head to the side and exclaimed, "Chomping cabbage? W...what's that?" She blinked in surprise, trying to image exactly what that meant. As if she thought the cabbage could hear her, Billie lowered her voice to a very loud whisper, "Does it eat people?!" She stared, expectantly up at Daff with curiosity.

As an afterthought, she added, since she figured she should at least acknowledge the other things said despite growing sidetracked. "'M good at weedin' and waterin'." And finding rodents and other pests, but the youngster figured that was a given.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Daff chuckled at the question of the cabbage. "Oh goodness no, can have a nasty bite, but mostly east vegetables and sometimes sometimes bugs." She'd managed to get herself bitten a time or two, but it wasn't too bad. Pruning it really was the worst.

"Come along, we'll weed and water our way down to it and I'll show you." Pulling her dirty apron from the hook near the door to the greenhouse proper, she also pulled one of Calla's old aprons from another hook for Billie if he wanted it.

In the greenhouse itself, Daffy moved to find one of the watering cans, a smaller one that Billie could handle before taking it to the tap to fill. With that accomplished she handed the hefty vessel to the young one gently. "It's down the end, why don't you water that row right there while I pull weeds over here." She motioned with one hand for Billie to follow and with the other to signal where she'd be working. "Maybe we can feed the cabbage while you're here." Daff mused absentmindedly, a dreamy smile on her features as she moved to pull weeds from the plot across the aisle from where Billie was to water.

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Billie let out a relieved sigh, images of a cabbage devouring an entire human and burping out their shoes, slowly dissolving from her brain. "Oh. That ain't so bad." Vegetable and bugs sounded a bit more harmless, though, she soon imagined someone making it giant sized and quickly dashed after Daff.

When offered the apron, she shook her head, "No, thanks." She didn't want to fumble about trying to put it on, nor did she believe she particularly needed it. The girl was already filthy from head to toe. What could a little bit more dirt do?

"Yes, Miss Potts! I can do that real good!" She grinned, eager to please Daffodil. She took the watering can and teeter tottered about with it until she caught her balance once again. Of course, she tried to pretend as if nothing out of the sort happened, and she trudged to where she was meant to water.

When the cabbage was mentioned again, she bobbed her head quickly, deciding it might be a thrilling thing to see. "Sure, so long as the food ain't me!" Billie giggled and moved to tip the watering can. At first, a rush of water came out, but after a few tries, she had the hang of it. The first few plants received quite a bit more water than any of the others.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Daffy hung the refused apron back up with a chuckle. She hummed along to herself as she started weeded the plots across from Billie and his watering can. He seemed to have gotten the hang of it after a few tries and the plants that had gotten a little more certainly wouldn't suffer from it. They had a pretty good drainage system worked out.

"Tap's right there if you need more" She motioned back toward the faucet with a lazy flick of her wrist, figuring he could handle it- or ask for him if he couldn't. "How old are you now Mr. Farrow?" Daff asked absentmindedly, wondering if he would be off to Hogwarts soon or not. That would be tricky she supposed, considering his lot in life, but then again, if he did as many errands and odd jobs between now and then, he likely could scrape by for a few years. She knew her mum always gave him a little extra when she could.

"Gentle near those purple ones," Daff motioned to a little orchid plant down the way. "They're fragile." It was an airy request, but she'd been carefully cultivating them herself and they were tricky!

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Billie continued to slowly make her way down the row, unevenly watering everything, but, at least she wasn't drenching the plants anymore. She paused when she heard Daff mention the tap, and she nodded, "Okay!" When she was ready, she scurried over to the faucet and plopped the watering can on the ground. She nudged it about a bit until she thought it looked to be in the right spot, and then turned on the water.

With her arms crossed over her chest, she slouched and waited. "'M nine!" She piped up, proudly, but then added somewhat hesitantly. "I think." Billie was never very sure of the exact day. Sometime near the beginning of summer, her mother usually mentioned that she was another year older. She figured she must be nine by now. It made her sound older, anyways. Grownups liked that. The child looked as if she were about to ask Daff how old she was, but then she figured maybe she shouldn't, so she closed her mouth again.

She stopped the water once it was just about full, and then hefted the can back over toward where she'd left off. Mention of the purple flowers, though, had her pausing. "Oh! I'll do 'em last." Giving Daff a quick smile, she hurried off to the other end, so she could water the orchids, last.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Watching Billie work was not entirely unlike watching Calla help out in the shop when her sister was a bit younger. Daff turned an affectionate smile on the wee imp as he scurried down to the other end, minding the orchids as she'd asked.

It was a little sad that he didn't know when his birthday was. "Well, you'll know you're eleven when your Hogwarts letter arrives, I suppose." Daff suggest airily. They always came at the end of July after one's eleventh birthday. "You've shown magic?" She hadn't even though to ask previously.

Continuing to hum to herself as she moved down the aisle, she neared the chomping cabbage in the corner. It appeared to be snoozing, if that was really a thing semi-sentient plants really did, but it would never say no to some food, of that she was well aware. She was bringing some of the flower scraps and rotted things for it to munch in as she weeded either way.

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She'd heard of Hogwarts, of course. Quite a few of the children she came across were always very busy talking about it, either excited for their first year or reminiscing about the previous one. "I dunno if I'll go there," she commented with a shrug. Billie hadn't really ever attended a proper school. What very little academic skills she possessed, she had learned on the fly from anyone who took the time to teach her. Reading, however, was not one of them, and she figured one needed to know how to do that first. Her financial circumstances were something else altogether. "Did you go?"

"Yeah, but--" She paused and frowned at Daff before shuffling a bit further to finish with the wandering. "I think maybe I have the bad kinda magic." At least, that's what her mother had told her. It had made the woman furious enough to throw the youngster out on the streets. Even so, any sort of accidental magic she'd shown had ended in disaster. So, perhaps, her mother was right.

Once Billie finished with the row, and she had only a small amount of water left in the can, she returned to the purple orchids and very careful made sure they also received water.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

Daffy supposed that in the long run Billie may not be able to go. First year certainly, as all children got a scholarship for that, but after that it would depend on academic prowess. Unfortunately even she knew that kids coming from a situation like Billie's were already starting behind their peers who came from better means. "I did, I just graduated." It was still a funny feeling, to be completely done with school.

As Billie was careful to water the orchids last, Daff watched fondly, appreciative of his care for the plants. "There's no such thing as bad magic, not at your age, Sweet." She assured him with a gentle smile. "You just don't know how to control it yet. I made a pot blow up when I was your age. My sister had scared me so bad it was just a reaction. It happens to everyone." Accidental magic happened to all kids, it was just how things went!

"There's a whole class in magical plants, like my friend the chomping cabbage down there." She motioned to it down the end with her head. "Come on, let's feed him." She brushed her hands of the dirt that had collected there and moved to find the bucket of leftovers to feed it.

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Billie grinned up at Daffy and nearly blurted out that she had thought her to be older than just graduated! Then again, everyone seemed ancient when you were only nine years old. "Was...was it fun? I ain't never been to school." Her question was a somewhat bashful one, at least compared to her usual cheerfully yelled out ones.

"There isn't?" She asked carefully in response to what Daffy said about magic. "You did?! Whoa." The child tried to keep herself from giggling while she imagine a pot exploding, but she wasn't really able to reign it in. Lowering her voice, she whispered, "I made all the things my Mum was washing for the lady she works for turn purple." Linens, napkins, handkerchiefs, dresses, basically everything the household had. She had been blamed, of course, for ruining it, but only her mother knew how she had done it. "But she said I have the devil in me." Her last comment was mumbled, perhaps hinting that she herself might also believe it. But, if Daff said that kind of magic wasn't bad, then what was her own mother talking about?

Billie's eyes widened with wonder, "A whole class!" With an excited, yet slightly wary look, she hurried along after Daffodil, eager to watch the chomping cabbage eat.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

"Hogwarts is oh so much fun. There's all kinds of wonderful classes and the Great Hall is splendid. The grounds are breathtaking. I would have stayed if they let me." Daff honestly would have stayed forever if she'd been able. Not that she was afraid to grow up or be an adult, but things were a lot easier at school.

Daff meandered down the aisle with a swish of her skirts toward the cabbage in the corner. He was a little surly, but usually enjoyed being fed. "That's a pity, purple is such a lovely color." She mused airily, gently nudging a cabbage leaf to make sure it was awake. "Isn't that unfair." She pursed her lips about the devil comment. "There are some kinds of bad magic, but you have to intentionally know and learn them. Accidental magic happens to everyone, especially when we're upset or scared. They don't teach those awful things at Hogwarts." Daff assured Billie with a smile over her shoulder.

Taking a piece of old mint plant, Daff held it out for the cabbage to eat. It snapped it up easily, though not without almost getting Daffy's fingers in the process. "He's not very careful. But it doesn't hurt much if he does get you." She chuckled as the plant mimicked what would look like chewing. "There's classes on charms and transfiguration, once you get old enough you can take lessons on creatures and divination if you like. First years you have flying lessons, those are fun." Fun, but had been a one and done for Daff, she was not meant to fly. "Calla will be in different classes by the time you get there, we could hold onto her books for you." That certainly couldn't be so hard, it wasn't like they would need them again!

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Billie trailed after Daff, listening with keen interest to absolutely everything she seemed to know about Hogwarts. It didn't sound like regular school, which other children she had known from the village she'd grown up in, had complained about.

"Well, everythin' was just plain ol' white!" She had definitely thought it looked better in purple, especially since she'd seen one of the members of the household in a dress of the same color. Not that she ever enjoyed dresses, but it had definitely been beautiful.

"So ya have to learn that kind? Oh....oh, good." Billie let out a breath of relief. Daff seemed like the honest type, so she decided to believe her.

Standing on tiptoes for no other reason than fascination, the girl watched as Daff fed the cabbage. She gasped as the plant nearly got Daff's fingers and started to giggle since a plant 'chewing' was incredibly amusing. She'd grown up in a small village, and nobody's village had ever had a plant that could eat. Just boring, old vegetables.

Hearing the list of classes, Billie gave Daff an overwhelmed look, definitely not sure what half of things she had said even meant. "Transfigur-what?" She blurted out, but one of the classes had caught her attention, and she excitedly spout out, "A class 'bout creatures! Like them dragons and stuff?" Flying also piqued her interest, and she tossed from one foot to the other. Maybe if she worked a lot and saved up all of her money, maybe she could go to school. Maybe.

The girl frowned at the mention of books, not because she wasn't appreciative of the offer, but she knew she would never be able to read them. "S...sure maybe." If you had to read at school, maybe she couldn't go after all.

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

"Transfiguration, I'd show you, but the fog. It's turning one thing into another." She explained, handing a piece of discarded plant to Billie to give the cabbage. Her wand was currently twisted up into her hair for safekeeping and nothing else, though it wasn't unusual for her to keep it there. Swaying to music nobody could hear, Daff glanced between the cabbage and the kid, amused by both of them for different reasons. "Mm, I didn't take Creatures, but I do hear it's fun. I'm not so sure you get to see a live dragon, but you'll see hippogriffs and nifflers and all kinds of things, I'll wager." Dragons were a little large to get to see in person, unless you were a MacFusty after all.

Though Daff was often oblivious with a lot of things, she was more in tune with people and plants than anything else. "I have a couple of old texts at home. I can bring them in and we can look at them together if you like? Plenty of books on plants like this guy." She chuckled. There wasn't a whole lot else Daff had to do during the fog anyway. Calla was done with her first year texts and they still had them, the question was where were they? Her sister, bless her, was almost as big of a scatterbrain as Daff was sometimes.

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"Maybe if the fogs goes away, ya could show me sometime?" She asked eagerly. Even though Billie had no clue what transfiguration was, she delighted in seeing others cast spells. It was refreshing to be in a place where magic wasn't regarded as the devil's work, and she was so curious to see anything and everything to do with it.

She took the offered bit of plant with a delighted smile. It took her a few seconds of tentative attempts at bringing her grubby hand closer before she fully extended it for the cabbage to eat. Since she wasn't practiced at feeding it, her fingers were nipped in the process. With a hiss she tugged her arm back and crammed her middle and index finger into her mouth. Much of the dirty that stained her fingers washed away with her saliva, but, somehow, it helped the tiny bit of pain go away. "Flippin' heck, he's fast!" Billie giggled a bit, apparently not scared away from the plant.

"I dunno what all them creatures is, but they sure have interestin' names!" She commented after she'd gotten done nursing her fingers. No matter what a hippogriff or a niffler ended up being, she was ecstatic to learn just about anything about them.

When Daff mentioned the books she seemed to have, Billie frowned slightly. Of course she wanted to look at them, but Daffodil would probably have to read them to her. "Do they have lotsa pictures?" She asked, giving her a hopeful look. If there were pictures, then that would be alright!

  

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you